Can't Stop Loving You
by harper92
Summary: Post-OotP. H&G are tired of R&Hr bickering. They plot to make R&Hr admit their feelings, but begin to fall for each other in the process. And what will happen when term starts? R for mild naughtiness. R&R! ch12 up!
1. Chapter1

Can't Stop Loving You  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Disclaimer: If only I were JK Rowling, but I'm not, and we all know it, so it'd make me really happy if I didn't get sued(=  
  
I have enough for a few chapters already, so I'll try to post every 2 or 3 days (maybe a little more). Be patient with me, I'm new at this. Happy reading!  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
It had been a horrible, boring summer.  
  
Harry collapsed on his bed, and sat staring vacantly out the window. Though he had, for the most part, been kept informed about Voldemort's limited activities, and received letters almost daily, Harry felt somehow excluded from the goings on of the wizarding world. Letters were poor company, and Harry would read them repeatedly, but although they helped to appease his feelings of loneliness, he often found that he was given too much time to dwell on his less then happy thoughts. 'This must be how Sirius felt in the months before he died' Harry thought sadly, but quickly squashed the thought when he felt himself start to come close to tears.  
  
The Dursleys had developed a policy for stoic silence when around him, and sometimes Harry felt as if he was being swallowed hole by the oppressive quiet. His only escape was Miss Figg's house and, though she was only a squib, he found that he felt more at home just being in her presence, as she was the closest connection he had to the world in which he truly belonged during the long summer.  
  
He got up now from the bed, and decided to go give the eccentric old lady a visit. He walked downstairs, his mood brightening slightly at the thought of being able to talk to someone 'on the outside' as he liked to call the world surrounding the Dursley's house, when, quite suddenly, a loud crash from the living room disturbed his chain of thought, and he missed the last two steps, banging painfully into the wall opposite them. Harry recognized that noise: someone had just arrived by floo powder.  
  
"NOT AGAIN!" he heard Vernon bellow from upstairs, the first words Harry had heard from Vernon in weeks, and was pushed roughly aside by his Uncle, who was muttering under his breath, "The utter nerve of those people, how dare they! Well, I'll show them, I will." but what exactly Uncle Vernon meant to show them Harry would never know, for he had just followed his uncle into the living room, which was in shambles.  
  
Through the dust and soot settling around the room, Harry could make out the figure of someone stepping out of the fireplace, vigorously brushing the filth out of his clothes. 'It must be Mr. Weasly!' Harry thought happily. His uncle's reaction was to the other extreme.  
  
Vernon's eyes appeared to be popping out of their sockets, and his breath was coming out in angry, irritated gasps. He looked as if he were about to suffer from a stroke, but Harry wasn't so lucky. Vernon instead began to yell like a lunatic-  
  
"GET OUT!!! Get out of my house this very instant!! I don't care what threats your kind make towards me, I'll not have my household disrupted in such a manner! You go right back where you came from or I'll. . . I'll. . ." For the second time in as many minutes Vernon's voice had faded into nothing, and it took Harry only seconds to see why.  
  
Looking over toward the fireplace, he saw not Mr. Weasly, but the only person who seemed to scare the be-jeebers out of Vernon, Mad-Eye Moody.  
  
"You were saying, Dursley?" Mad-Eye asked, still patting at the great clouds of dust rising from his tattered cloak. Finally, he gave a huff of frustration, taking out his wand, and Harry sensed his uncle Vernon stiffening beside him. Mad-Eye, not sensing or not caring about the discomfort he had caused Vernon, gave a flick of his wand and the room was restored to its previously shining state.  
  
"You know, Dursley, you really ought to think about cleaning out that chimney sometime," Mad-Eye complained loudly. Harry backed away from Vernon, who was starting to turn purple in his suppressed rage, but Vernon stayed silent in an unprecedented example of self-control. Mad-Eye then turned to Harry, "Go pack up Harry, Dumbledore wants you to be taken to Hogwarts immediately."  
  
"Straight to Hogwarts!" Harry said, shocked, "But, I-I don't understand-"  
  
"No time to explain, boy, I have other things to get to today, you know. But, I wanted to see to it personally that you got safely to Hogwarts. You never know who to trust these days. . ."  
  
"But what about-"  
  
"I told ya, Harry, it will be explained to you when we get to Hogwarts, now go pack, and be quick about it!"  
  
Harry, resisting the urge to argue, went grudgingly up the stairs. He quickly packed his few belongings, grabbing Hedwig's empty cage on the way out of his room. He came back into the living room, struggling with his heavy trunks, to find that the other Dursleys had joined Vernon in his shocked silence. Mad-Eye was pacing impatiently in front of the fireplace, and Harry saw him jab his wand at the air, where the time appeared written wispily, and Harry guessed that this was Mad-Eye's way of monitoring how much time he had been waiting.  
  
Harry cleared his throat, and Mad-Eye looked up, saying "Finally! Well, let's get going, then!" Harry stuck his luggage in the fireplace, and then crammed himself in after it. He did not bother to say farewell to the Dursleys, knowing he would not get a response, and Mad-Eye just muttered "Ready?" to Harry before stepping into the fireplace and, in a matter of seconds, he was falling out of the fireplace in Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Ah, Harry! So good to see you. Mad-Eye, you had no troubles, I presume?"  
  
"Not a one," Mad-Eye said, with a thoroughly disappointed air, as though he had been hoping for some entertainment. "I'll be off now, if that's quite all right with you, Dumbledore."  
  
"Go right ahead, Moody, don't let me keep you!" Dumbledore said jovially, and with that Mad-Eye disappeared back through the fireplace.  
  
Harry turned to ask Dumbledore why he had been sent to Hogwarts two weeks before term started, but Dumbledore was already explaining before he could utter a word.  
  
"I decided to put an end to your misery, Harry," Dumbledore said sympathetically, and Harry blushed. Had he really been that obvious? "I gathered from your letters that you were extremely unhappy, and I decided to have you brought here so you could have some company."  
  
"But, Professor, there won't be anyone here for another two weeks, couldn't I go to the burrow instead?" Harry asked hopefully.  
  
Dumbledore shook his head, and Harry felt his mood drop. "I'm afraid that you would find the Burrow unoccupied at this time Harry." Dumbledore said, and Harry felt worry stem up inside him. "Oh no, nothing like that, my boy, Arthur and Molly are off doing work for the ministry, which is hard pressed for help, and Ron and Virginia are also staying here until the beginning of term."  
  
"Ron's here!" Harry exclaimed happily, his spirits once again lifting.  
  
"Yes, and Miss Granger should be arriving sometime this afternoon, for she is anxious to keep you two company. It seems that Ronald has been sending her letters professing extreme boredom, and she felt compelled to come early."  
  
Harry smiled happily at this news. This was better then he could have hoped for.  
  
"Miss Granger and her family have also done me the favor of collecting your school supplies from Diagon Alley, since I feel that it would be prudent for you to stay inside the Hogwarts grounds. I know that it is tempting for sixteen year olds, such as yourselves, to go wandering, but I'm going to ask that you not go out at night, Harry. The dementors are loose, as well as other creatures under Voldemort's command, and I would feel much better if you would promise me that you will not go running wild with your friends, Harry."  
  
"I promise" Harry said absently, eager to get away and find Ron, his spirits higher then they had been all summer at the thought of some cheerful company.  
  
"Ah, I see that you are anxious to get away from this old man. Well, off with you, Harry, I believe that Ron is in the Gryffindor Common room playing chess with his sister. Run along, now!"  
  
"Thanks Professor," Harry said hurriedly, before rushing out of Dumbledore's office, his trunks feeling considerably lighter at the thought of seeing his friends.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Checkmate!"  
  
Ginny stared at the board, and realized that she had lost yet again. "Well, surprise, surprise" she sighed moodily. She was thoroughly sick of being beaten by Ron. Even he had stopped gloating after he triumphed yet again in their fifth game, and now it was obvious that both of them were just going through the motions for lack of anything better to do.  
  
Ron was setting up the board for yet another riveting game, but a sound came from the portrait leading into the commons, startling them both. Ginny looked behind her to see the top of a masculine head as he struggled to push his trunk into the room. And only one person had gorgeous tousled hair like that.  
  
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed breathlessly, but then blushed and ducked her head to hide the overjoyed expression on her face. Neither boy had noticed her momentary lapse, though, for Ron had leapt up from the couch, saying "Harry, thank goodness! I swear, I was about to collapse from boredom!" and they were embracing each other, in a very manly fashion Ginny thought, smiling, roughly patting each others' backs.  
  
"I know what you mean, Ron. But I don't think anyone could truly define boredom until they've spent the summer with the Dursleys."  
  
"Ah, how are the old fart-bags, anyway?"  
  
"Couldn't tell you," Harry chuckled, "They haven't spoken to me since I got my OWL results."  
  
"That bad, huh?"  
  
Harry hesitated, and Ginny guessed that he didn't know how Ron had done yet, and didn't want to seem overly enthusiastic. "Umm. . . Better then expected, actually. I just skidded by in history and potions, but McGonagall sent me an owl saying she would pull some strings and get me into Snape's class, something I normally wouldn't be happy about, mind you, but I'll have to suffer through two more years of potions if I want to be an auror."  
  
"Let me guess, an O in Defense, am I right?"  
  
"Well," said Harry, doing his best to hide a smug grin, "you know how it is. . ."  
  
"So why are the Dud-heads pissed with you?" Ron asked, somewhat confused.  
  
"Well, Vernon was going on about how I couldn't be expecting a free ride once I was done with school, and I told him not to worry himself, because I would be going to Auror training after Hogwarts, and when he found out what an auror was he became quite, umm. . . distressed. He seems to think that my chasing after dark wizards will provoke an attack on 'the family'. . ."  
  
The two continued on with their conversation for some time, drifting from one mundane topic to another, and Ginny sat quietly on the couch across from them, staring out the window, trying very hard not to gaze at Harry. She noticed after a while, though, that Ron seemed to be the only one in the room talking, and she looked over at them, wondering why Harry had become so quiet. She was surprised to find him staring back at her.  
  
They held each other's eyes for a couple of breathless moments, and Ginny felt herself drowning in the dazzling emerald pools. Harry finally tore his gaze away from her (Ginny could have sworn he did it regretfully) and turned his attention back to Ron's ceaseless chatter.  
  
She allowed herself to hope for a brief moment, not quite believing the enraptured look she had seen in his eyes. Then reason took over. 'Stop it, Gin' she admonished herself 'You're seeing something that simply isn't there, and besides, you're going with Dean now, anyway, so you have no right to be looking longingly into Harry's eyes.'  
  
But she couldn't make the feelings coursing through her go away.  
  
"What!?"  
  
Ginny was brought out of her reverie by Harry's startled exclamation.  
  
"Yup, I know, it's crazy, but Bill asked Fleur and Fleur said yes, so now they're getting married. They're going to wait till next summer, though, when Fleur turns twenty. Bill's hoping that Percy will come to his senses and accept the invitation by then."  
  
"So, Percy still won't admit he was wrong, huh?"  
  
"Nope, a right awful snob, that one is. Mum can't even bring herself to say his name anymore."  
  
Harry looked as if he was about to offer his condolences, but just then the portrait to the Commons swung open yet again, and an extremely harassed looking Hermione stumbled into the room.  
  
"That Knight Bus is positively horrid! It was bumping around so much that I didn't get to do any of my reading at all!" she said huffily, but then smiled as Harry got up to hug her. Ginny tried to squelch the rush of jealousy that seemed to be squeezing her heart, and almost missed the same look coming from her brother's eyes when Hermione leaned up to give Harry a peck on the cheek.  
  
"Oh, I've missed everyone so much!" she said, leaning over to give Ron and Ginny quick hugs where they sat on the couches, and Ginny thought that she backed away from Ron rather quickly. "I've been with my parents in Fiji, and it was ever so interesting, but it gets tedious, you know, being around muggles all the time."  
  
"Well, It's a whole lot better then being locked up alone in Horgwarts for most of the summer, with no decent company at all," Ron said mulishly.  
  
"That's not true, Ron, you've had Ginny to keep you company," Harry said, throwing a quick, searching look at Ginny, as if expecting her to be hurt by Ron's callous comment.  
  
"Oh, well, Ron spends a lot of time in his own little world, so sometimes he's hard to visit," Ginny said, suppressing a giggle.  
  
"Yeah, he can be that way sometimes," Harry chuckled. Ron grumbled "There's no need to be mean" but Ginny noticed that Ron didn't seem to by truly offended until Hermione joined in on the laughter at his expense. Harry seemed to have taken note of this as well, and he caught Ginny's eye, shaking his head in exasperation, a small grin playing over his lips.  
  
Ginny's smile slowly faded as she stared at Harry's mouth, her own suddenly dry, and she licked her lips nervously. Harry gave a small start at this, drawing in a quick intake of breath, and then he tore his eyes away from her, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Ginny was surprised by his reaction, and wasn't sure of quite how she should take it.  
  
Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione, oblivious to the tension that had arisen between the other two occupants in the room, had begun to argue. Ginny wasn't entirely sure how the argument had started, she had been too busy worrying over why the sight of her tongue should startle Harry so much.  
  
"Ron, I can't believe you didn't pass your potions OWL, that was a really important one! No wonder you wouldn't discuss your test results with me in your letters."  
  
"Well, I'm sorry that I'm not as smart as you. Besides, there's loads of stuff I could still do without a potions OWL."  
  
"But what if the one thing you truly want to do isn't among them? Besides, it's not about being smart, it's about applying yourself."  
  
"Oh, applying myself!" Ron said, acting surprised, but it was hard to miss the sarcasm. "Here I was thinking I should be going to classes and studying at all hours of the night, but turns out all I had to do was apply myself!"  
  
"Come off it Ron! There were plenty of times when you could have been studying, but instead you went off to play with your stupid broom!"  
  
"You did not just go there!" Ron said, highly affronted, "I know that you did NOT just-"  
  
"Will you two shut-it!" Harry shouted, not being able to take anymore. Ron and Hermione stood in shocked silence, as if they hadn't realized just how heated things had gotten, and then they looked at the ground, shuffling their feet and muttering hesitant apologies.  
  
"Look," Harry said, rubbing his hand through his already mussed hair, "Ron, why don't you come with me while I unpack, and that will give the two of you time to settle down. I'm sure you need to unpack too, Hermione, so why don't we meet down here later to go down to dinner-"  
  
"Ginny and I had an early supper, actually," Ron interrupted, but then quickly added, "I'll join you and Hermione anyway, though, and we can do some more catching up." Ginny got the distinct impression that Ron didn't want Hermione and Harry going off alone together.  
  
"Fine with me," Harry said, and then hesitantly (hopefully? Ginny thought) he asked, "Would you like to join us too, Gin?"  
  
Ginny thought about it for a second, but then decided that she would feel too much the outsider if she went with them. "No, I'm tired, actually, so I think I'll turn in soon."  
  
"Oh, Okay then," Harry said, and if Ginny didn't know better she would have sworn he was disappointed. "Well, I just don't want you getting lonely, so if you change your mind. . ."  
  
Ginny nodded her head with deceptive indifference, and smiled a good night as she followed Hermione up to the girls' dormitories.  
  
Much later that night, while listening to the gentle snoring of the medieval witch in the picture hung on the wall next to her bed, Ginny's thoughts were very much occupied with Harry. And though she could not stem the flow of doubts that seemed to be overwhelming her, one comforting fact remained: Harry had been concerned that she might feel lonely. . .  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Sooo- what did you think so far? I promise it will pick up more later on. Please r&r! Any comments you could leave me would be much appreciated! Be gentle, though, this is my first(= 


	2. Chapter2

Chapter 2  
  
Disclaimer: Blah blah blah. Not mine(=  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Harry lay in his bead, thinking about the day's events. In the next bed Ron was sleeping fitfully, and he had confessed earlier that he had trouble sleeping ever since the brain attack. Hermione had immediately run down to the library, to see if she could find any remedies.  
  
'When are those two going to get over themselves and admit they have feelings for each other?' he asked himself, grinning. All that self-denial was making them ornery.  
  
'Speaking of denying one's feelings. . .' Harry's thoughts turned to Ginny. He had found it difficult to stop staring at her that night. 'But, why?' thought Harry, 'What's so different about her?' Sure, she looked older, but she was still the same, really. She hadn't spoken much earlier, and that had confused him. He had gotten the impression last year that she was over her crush on him. Too bad.  
  
'Now where did that thought come from?' Harry wondered, mentally shaking his head. For some reason, he found himself wanting Ginny, and he didn't know why. Maybe it had been the light shining through the window and setting of the amber highlights in her hair. Or later, the way the candlelight had gleamed in her fathomless brown eyes.  
  
Whatever it had been, Harry found himself, quite suddenly, thinking about Ginny in an altogether different way then he had before. But maybe Ginny hadn't changed at all. Maybe it was him.  
  
All Harry knew was that nothing had ever seemed so arousing to him as her small pink tongue darting out to moisten her parched lips. He had never had a reaction like that to a girl before. An image of Cho swept through his mind, but he waved it aside in irritation. That had been nothing more then a young boy's crush, an innocent infatuation.  
  
The feelings he was starting to have toward Ginny were anything but innocent.  
  
But it was more then just a physical yearning he was having for Ginny. He had seen beautiful girls before. But there was a gentle grace and. . . sincerity to Ginny that made her more appealing to him then any other. He wanted to be with her, to bask in the glow of her company. He wanted to be the one who made her smile, to hear the sound of her laughter washing over him. He wanted her to look at him in the indulgent, loving way she looked at her brothers.  
  
This last thought shocked him. He wanted Ginny to look at him lovingly? But upon further reflection, the thought didn't seem so far-fetched. He could imagine it now, even. Ginny, sitting in front of him, all the love in the world shining from the very depths of her eyes, and an emotion he didn't want to identify swelled up inside his chest. Over the summer, when the loneliness had seemed to be swallowing him whole, a similar emotion had settled around his heart, unidentifiable to him then, but clear to him now.  
  
He longed for someone he could love.  
  
'But Ginny?' he thought yet again, still trying to deny that it was possible. An image of her formed in his mind. They were in a field, surrounded by flowers, and Ginny was running ahead of him, a mischievous gleam in her eyes as she beckoned him to follow her. Before Harry knew it, he had been lulled to sleep by the sound of her gentle laughter, and continued to dream of her long into the night.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The next morning Harry sat waiting for Ron in the commons. They had decided to visit Hagrid after they ate breakfast.  
  
'Maybe I should see if Hermione wants to come,' Harry thought. She would probably be angry if she found out they had gone to Hagrid's without her. He checked his watch. Nine o'clock. It was plenty late enough to wake her up, he decided.  
  
He had put his foot on the first step leading to the girls' dorms when he remembered what had happened the last time Ron had tried to go up there. Sure enough, where there had once been steps there was now a slide. 'There has to be another way to get up there,' Harry thought. He gripped the railing and pulled himself up with his arms, steadying himself by sliding his feet up the steep incline. Within a few minutes he was standing outside the door to the girls' room.  
  
He knocked tentatively, and when he got no answer, he assumed that both girls were still sleeping. He opened the door slowly and stepped inside. Surveying the room, he saw that it was nearly identical to the boys' dorms, except it was a little more, well, girly. Though done in gold and red, as was all of Gryffindor, there were more frills, poufs, and there seemed to be an awful lot of lace everywhere. Harry approached the two beds opposite the door in the circular room, guessing that the one to the left, surrounded by piles of books, was Hermione's.  
  
As he got closer, he realized that the bed, though unmade, was unoccupied. Puzzled, he glanced at the bed on his right, and his breath caught in his throat, his heart suddenly beating faster.  
  
Ginny had kicked off most of the covers in her sleep, and only a thin sheet lay twisted around her slim waist. She lay on her back, with one arm raised and her hand curled beneath her chin, her head turned to one side. She wore a tank top that revealed a good amount of cleavage, and her breasts (when had she gotten those?) pressed firmly against the thin material. Her hair lay in a riot around her head, and Harry was reminded of the color of the setting sun. She was breathing evenly through her mouth, her lips gently parted, and a single russet tendril lay across them. Before Harry could stop himself, he was brushing the lock lovingly aside, and the feel of her soft, smooth skin against his fingers had blood rushing to an area it should not be rushing to when looking at a girl he had just last year thought of as a sister. But gazing down at her in her relaxed state, Harry felt strangely moved, and again he got the feeling that a cushion was forming around his heart.  
  
She looked like an angel.  
  
Ginny opened her eyes sleepily and took a deep breath. What a wonderful dream. . . She and Harry had been lying in a field of lilies, and he had been looking deep into her eyes, into her very soul, and saying that he couldn't stand one more day without her. She turned her head, still half asleep, and saw him standing above her. "Harry," she breathed his name, smiling, and reached out toward him.  
  
Harry felt as if he had been petrified. Had she just called out to him? A dreamy smile lit up her face, and she had opened her arms welcomingly to him. Harry got the impression that she was not yet fully awake. When he made no move toward her, she lowered her arms, a small frown creasing her brow. Then he saw the dawning comprehension in her eyes, and they widened to the size of saucers as she squeaked out "Harry!" and sat up quickly, pulling the sheet higher and tucking it under her armpits to hide her scantily clad breasts.  
  
"Umm. . . Harry. . .uh. . .What are you. . ." She glanced uneasily at him and he realized that she was looking for a reason that he might be standing over her bed as she slept.  
  
"Well I was, err. . . looking for Hermione, you know, and. . . umm. . ." he scratched his head, thinking frantically. "Uhh, I was about to wake you up because. . . umm, we were wondering, or actually more I was wondering, really, if you'd like to come visit Hagrid. . . that is, after breakfast, of course. You really don't have to, just thought you might be bored, and, well.you know," he finished lamely.  
  
"Oh okay," Ginny said uncertainly. "Umm, well sure, I guess, I'm not doing anything else." Why was he staring at her like that?  
  
Harry nodded his head, at a loss for what to do next. He decided the best thing was to leave now, before he made a bigger fool of himself. He opened his mouth to say he'd be waiting downstairs when Hermione walked in.  
  
"Harry! How did you get in here?" Hermione asked, surprised. She was dressed in muggle clothing and her hair was wet. She had obviously just come from the showers.  
  
"Pulled myself up on the railing," Harry muttered. Hermione nodded, smiling slightly, and then looked at him in polite expectation, her eyebrows raised inquiringly. After a few moments passed in silence, she prodded, "did you want something?" and Harry snapped out of the near stupor he had been in ever since Ginny had woken up. Why had he come up here in the first place? "Oh yeah, sorry! Ron and I wanted to know if you'd like to come down to breakfast with us before we all went to see Hagrid."  
  
"Sure. I just need to make my bed, so I'll be down in a minute."  
  
"All right then," Harry said, muttered "see you in a few" to Ginny, and then rushed off hurriedly.  
  
Hermione turned to Ginny, eyebrows raised, "Well he was acting strangely, don't you think? What were you two talking about before I came in, anyway?"  
  
"Oh, he was just asking if I'd like to join you all," then she hesitated, "But. . ."  
  
"'But. . .' what?"  
  
"Well," Ginny said, her brow furrowed, "I think he might have been just watching me sleep. When I woke up, he was just standing over me, and when I asked him why he was here it seemed like he didn't know what to say. I think he only invited me 'cause he couldn't think of any other excuses for what he was doing."  
  
Hermione looked thoughtful for a second, and then she gave Ginny a knowing look, a smug smile on her face.  
  
"And just what, exactly, is that look supposed to mean?" Ginny asked.  
  
"I think you know exactly what it means," Hermione grinned mischievously, "he fancies you."  
  
"No he does not!" Ginny said, shocked.  
  
"Oh yeah, boys just stand staring at sleeping girls for no reason. Of course he likes you." Hermione said reasonably.  
  
"Not necessarily," Ginny said, balking. "He could have been thinking 'Oy, she really needs to brush her teeth better' or 'her hair looks like a rats nest'."  
  
"Or 'Wow, her boobs look a helluva lot bigger when she's not wearing a bra." Ginny gasped and threw her pillow at Hermione who caught it, laughing, and tossed it back to her. "Oh, come on. He's smitten with you," Hermione said fluttering her eyelashes teasingly. "Don't pretend you don't like the idea, you've had a crush on him for five years. And don't tell me that you're over him, because I know you're not."  
  
"Exactly," Ginny said forcefully. "I've liked him for five years and he knew it. So why wouldn't he just come out and say that he was starting to feel something for me if he knows that I feel that way about him?"  
  
"Maybe he doesn't know that," Hermione reasoned. "After all, I can see right through you, but boys are dense. For the past year, you've tried to make it look like you've given up on him, and maybe he's convinced. I mean, you're dating someone else, Ginny."  
  
"Hmmm. . ." Ginny chewed this over for a second, then she shook her head decisively. "No, if he wanted me, he would have given some kind of indication before now. A person's feelings don't just change overnight."  
  
But Hermione looked thoughtful once again. She shrugged her shoulders, "You never know," she said, straightening the covers on her bed, "Maybe they can."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Pllllllllllllllease Review. Thank you!!! 


	3. Chapter3

Chapter 3  
  
Disclaimer: Do I even have to say it?  
  
OMG! I'm so psyched about all the reviews I've gotten! Thank you sooooo much, they really made my day(= I'm in the middle of writing the next chapter, and it should be up within three days. I know what I want to happen, I'm just having a little trouble figuring out how I want to get there. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it!  
  
~~~~~  
  
Ginny sat alone in the dining room, staring off into space, her chin resting in her left hand as she lazily twirled her fork in her pasta with her right. The other three had gone down to the lake for a swim, seeing as how the weather was so nice. Ginny looked up at the cloudless ceiling. She wished now that she had gone. Harry had asked her. But though she was more comfortable around Harry then she had been just a few days ago, she was still too shy to don a swimsuit in front of him, and she had declined. She had decided that she needed time alone with her thoughts anyway, and had gone to eat.  
  
For the first time, she actually felt as if she was a part of their group. Though Harry had given no indication that he might be interested in her romantically since the morning four days ago, he had never paid more attention to her. He went out of his way to make sure that she felt included. She found herself letting down her guard with him more and more, and was often surprised by how much he seemed to be opening up to her. They laughed a lot together. They were great friends.  
  
It was complete and utter torture.  
  
The thing was, Ginny didn't want to be "just a friend" to Harry. When she had been younger, she had made her feelings blatantly obvious to him, and it had been awful knowing that he didn't feel even remotely the same way. But being around him, seeing how wonderful he was, and having to hide her feelings for fear of ruining what closeness they had developed, was a thousand times worse.  
  
She started when two large hands covered her eyes suddenly from behind. "Guess who?"  
  
Ginny smiled. "It's Brad Pitt, isn't it?" she said in a breathless voice. "Oh, Brad, I knew you would come for me one day."  
  
"Ha, ha, very funny," Harry said, flopping down on the bench next to her. His hair was still wet from his recent swim, and he was dressed in muggle clothes. The worn t-shirt was a bit big on him, and Ginny suspected it had once belonged to his overweight cousin. Her attention was drawn to the sinewy muscles of his arms as he reached over her to grab a dinner roll, and she gasped when his elbow accidentally brushed her breast. She looked at his face, but he didn't seem to notice that he had disturbed her, for he was now concentrating on buttering his bread.  
  
"Yes, I am quite funny, don't you think?" she said in an over-bright voice, though smiling at him engagingly.  
  
Harry was momentarily speechless at the sight of her breathtaking smile. "Yeah, sure, funny looking," he grinned teasingly, all the while thinking 'Yes, you're funny, and smart, and beautiful, and I can't get you out of my head.'  
  
"Oh, original, Harry. Really witty," she said, rolling her eyes. She turned her head toward the doors leading into the Hall. "So, where are Ron and Hermione?"  
  
Harry sighed and shook his head in exasperation. "I left them at the lake, but I don't even think they noticed I had gone, they were yelling at each other so loudly. If I have to listen to their bickering for one more minute, I'm going to set a fully grown blast-ended skrewt loose on them, because I really don't think I can take any more."  
  
"I know what you mean. I wish they would just admit they have feelings for each other and put the rest of us out of our misery."  
  
"Hmm." Harry said, brow furrowed. Then a mischievous grin lit up his eyes. "Maybe we should help them along."  
  
"And how do you propose we do that?" Ginny asked cautiously.  
  
"Well," he said, lowering his voice to a near whisper and leaning in close, "I've been thinking about it, and we could, I don't know, get them to be alone together. And we could drop hints to each about how great the other is, or" and now Harry looked as if he had been truly inspired, "I could make Ron jealous."  
  
"How?" Ginny asked slowly, growing suspicious.  
  
"Oh, don't look at me like that. All I'd do is. . . make Ron think that I was interested."  
  
"But you wouldn't actually do anything, would you?" Ginny asked accusingly.  
  
"What!?" Harry said incredulously. "Hermione and me? Are you mad?" Ginny relaxed and felt herself smile when she saw how impossible the idea was to him. "No, I'd just sort of make Ron believe that I might make a move. Bring him to his senses."  
  
"Yes, it would," Ginny couldn't help but agree. She narrowed her eyes in concentration. Then she smiled. "You know, if we plan this right, I think it could work."  
  
"Of course it will. I'm a genius." Harry said with a false air of superiority, smiling at her. She felt her insides start to melt, but was distracted by angry voices coming from the doors leading into the hall. Harry looked up and said, lowering his voice, "That will be Ron and Hermione. I think we should meet tonight and discuss strategy, somewhere we won't be overheard. Any ideas?"  
  
"Nowhere in Gryffindor is safe, they could walk in on us," Ginny said glancing over her shoulder again at the approaching figures of Ron and Hermione and lowering her own voice even more. "But almost anywhere else Filch might catch us. The only place I can think of is the Room of Requirement. Sound good to you?"  
  
"Perfect." Harry said. "I'll meet you in the commons, say nine thirty, and we'll get there under the invisibility cloak, just to make sure they don't know we're going off together alone, avoid any awkward questions."  
  
Ginny stared at him for a second. They would be going off together. Alone. To a room where no one would find them. "Okay," Ginny got out from around the lump in her throat. Harry nodded and then they both looked up as Ron and Hermione sat down, glaring furiously at one another.  
  
"Not again," Harry muttered to Ginny as they lit into each other.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
At precisely 9:29 that night Ginny went running down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, and was surprised to see that Harry had not yet arrived. Then she jumped when Harry appeared suddenly, having removed his invisibility cloak right in front of her.  
  
"Come on," he urged, casting his eyes toward the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories and reaching for her hand. Once they were out in the hall, he pulled the invisibility cloak around them both, and Ginny's back was pressed close to Harry's front as they made their way through the halls and passageways to the seventh floor. Ginny's hair was up, and she could feel Harry's breath on the back of her neck. Their close proximity was doing serious damage to her nerves. Little did she know that she was having the same effect on Harry.  
  
When they got to the tapestry opposite where the door should be, Ginny felt Harry shift behind her. He had pulled something from his pocket, and Ginny got a quick glance at an aged piece of paper that looked like a map with a few tiny dots moving around on it, before he said, "Look's clear" and put it back in his pocket as he removed the cloak from around them. He then walked back and forth in front of the tapestry three times, concentrating hard, and a door suddenly appeared on the opposite wall.  
  
Harry opened the door and beckoned for Ginny to follow him. She walked into the room and looked around. She was amazed at how different the room looked compared to when it had held their DA meetings. It was much smaller then before, and it looked less like a classroom and more like a living area. There was a plush love seat flanked by two overlarge armchairs sitting in front of the fire, which provided a sufficient amount of light but no heat. There was a window through which a soft breeze was blowing in on the warm August night. In front of the love seat was a coffee table, on which lay a scattered assortment of pens, paper notebooks, and two steaming mugs of what Ginny assumed was tea.  
  
"Ah, excellent! I didn't actually ask for tea but I was really craving it when I was thinking of this room." Harry smiled at her and offered her the second mug as he sipped from his own. She took a great gulp, and felt her eyes water as it burned her throat, but stopped herself from coughing as she sat down on the loveseat next to him thinking, 'Right then, smaller sips. Calm down, Gin, it's not like you haven't been alone with him before.'  
  
"All right, then. Where do we start?" She asked in an attempt to hide her awkwardness.  
  
"Well, I think for the next few days we should just concentrate on doing little things. We have to try to distract them when they start arguing. I'll start saying how wonderful Hermione is and pointing out all the great things about her to Ron. You should do the same with Hermione. But try not to be too obvious, because if anyone could catch on to what we're up to, it would be Hermione."  
  
"Right," Ginny said, "I should probably start making a list because, don't get me wrong, I love my brother, but I don't know if I could just come up with great things to say about him when put on the spot."  
  
"Whatever helps," Harry grinned. "So after a little while I'll start really laying it on to Ron about how much I like Hermione. Just enough to get him riled up. And maybe you should go to Ron and say you're worried that I might be interested in Hermione, to confirm his suspicions."  
  
"But why would I be worried about that?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Well, because you still like me, of course."  
  
"No I don't!" Ginny said, a little too quickly, and Harry looked at her oddly.  
  
"I know that, Gin, calm down. But you could make Ron think you're taken with me, which will make Ron even more pissed about me chasing after Hermione."  
  
"Oh, okay," Ginny said, relieved. She would have just died if Harry knew that she was still interested in him. Well, more then interested.  
  
"After that, we need to get them alone together." Harry sat scratching his head for several minutes before turning to her, "How does this sound. . ."  
  
For a long time they sat plotting, and Ginny finally relaxed enough to add some suggestions of her own. She looked at her watch sometime later, and was surprised to see that they had been talking for almost an hour.  
  
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, seeing the startled look on her face.  
  
"Well, nothing really, it's just that it's almost ten thirty. Do you think we should head back?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so." Harry said, standing up. They walked through the door and out into the hall, and Harry once again enveloped them in the invisibility cloak. She sucked in her stomach when Harry placed a hand on her waist, guiding her forward, but he didn't seem to notice that she had stopped breathing.  
  
They were only halfway to the common room when Ginny gave a small yell, and tripped over the front of the cloak. Harry tried to stop her from going down, but instead felt himself being pulled down with her. He cursed and quickly maneuvered himself so that he would bear the brunt of the fall, landing on his back with Ginny cradled on top of him. He gave a grunt when his shoulder dug into the stone floor, and Ginny looked down at him, concerned.  
  
"I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Ginny asked, a little breathless from the fall. She looked into his eyes searchingly.  
  
"Um, yeah," Harry said. The pain in his shoulder was forgotten as he looked up at Ginny. Amazingly, the cloak had stayed in place, and it surrounded them, wrapping them tightly together. Some of her hair had come loose from her ponytail and it gently framed her face, softening her features. Though her face was cast in shadows by the torchlight, he could see the concern pouring from her genuine eyes. She lay completely covering him, and her breasts were pressed up against his chest, her hands gripping his shoulders as she leaned up to look at him. Not daring to tell her what was really bothering him, and hoping that she wouldn't feel it against the top of her leg, he got out, "just my shoulder."  
  
"Oh," Ginny said, and she began to gently rub his shoulders. Harry gulped. "That better?" She asked smiling down at him, and was caught off-guard by the look in his eyes. As inexperienced as she was, she could not mistake the desire there.  
  
They lay there for a few seconds, looking into each others eyes, neither knowing what to do. Harry raised his hand and brushed her hair behind her ear, and before he could stop himself he was leaning up to kiss her. He felt Ginny tense up over him, and then slowly start to relax, raising her hands to cradle his head. Her lips were soft, but she kept them closed, and Harry got the impression that was the only way she knew how to kiss.  
  
Ginny felt a shock go through her when Harry's tongue touched her lips, gently seeking entrance to her mouth. She hesitated slightly before opening her mouth to him, and moaned at the feel of his tongue sliding smoothly against hers. She savored the new, exciting sensations for a few seconds, and then she became more enthusiastic. Tilting her head, she imitated him, pushing her tongue between his lips and rubbing it up against his tongue, brushing it up against the roof of his mouth before gliding it over his bottom teeth. He tasted good, sweetness and spice mixed with a flavor that had to be uniquely Harry. He had one hand wrapped in her hair, guiding her head as he kissed her. The other had found its way inside her shirt, and it was sliding up her back, pressing her more firmly against him. His hand felt good on her smooth, bare skin, and she shivered when he reached the clasp of her bra. He continued to kiss her, playing with the clasp but not daring to open it.  
  
She pulled away from him slightly and looked into his eyes. She could see the question there and nodded, bending her head down to kiss his neck as he clumsily fumbled with the back of her bra. She felt it pop open, and quickly moved up to kiss him on the lips again. He got distracted by her playful tongue darting in and out of his mouth, and she slid one of her hands down his firm chest, amazed at how muscular it was. She gasped in anticipation when she felt his hand moving toward her front underneath her shirt, and leaned up to give him easier access. His fingers were just inches away from her breast. . . one inch. . . almost there. . .  
  
Suddenly he was withdrawing his hand and pulling her head away from his mouth. She started to ask him what was wrong, but he pushed her face against his chest, covering her mouth and stifling any noise she would have made. She could hear his heart beating a mile a minute, and yet he was struggling to control his labored breathing. As Ginny lay against his chest, it took her only a few seconds to figure out why he was trying to be so quiet, and her eyes widened in terror over the edge of Harry's hand.  
  
". . .I know someone's there, I could heard you," Filch was saying, and Ginny looked up to see that he was standing not five feet from where they lay, lantern held high as he looked around the hallway. His cat sat at his feet, its great eyes staring at Harry and Ginny in disdain. Ginny nearly fainted when Filch walked passed them, placing his foot not inches from her head. She held herself as still as possible, and Filch continued down the hall, calling, "If that's you Peeves, I swear. . ." before turning to go down the steps leading to the fifth floor. They listened as his footsteps faded, and it was several moments before either of them moved.  
  
Harry removed his hand from Ginny's mouth and let go of her head. He helped her stand clumsily, encumbered by the invisibility cloak twisting annoyingly around them. Once they were up they stared silently into each other's eyes, neither being able to read the other's thoughts there. Harry cleared his throat and looked away nervously. "I think we should get back to Gryffindor in case he comes back up here again," he said, unable to look her in the eye again. Ginny nodded, a blank expression on her face, and within a few very awkward minutes they had made it to the commons.  
  
They removed the invisibility cloak, and Harry looked at Ginny, searching for something to say. Ginny spoke first, looking at the floor and blushing, "Harry, could you turn around a sec, I need to-" she stopped there, and gestured feebly toward her breasts.  
  
Harry realized that her bra was still undone. "Oh," he said, and quickly turned to face the other way, feeling the heat rise to his own cheeks. When she cleared her throat he assumed she was done and turned back to her.  
  
They both glanced at each other before looking away quickly, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Harry could not stand the silence any longer and he started to ramble. "Listen, Gin, I'm really sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. Well, that's not true, I know exactly what I was thinking, I mean, you're a beautiful girl and we were laying there like that and I guess I just sort of got caught up in the moment." Ginny looked up when he said this. "I mean, you're my friend, Gin, and I went way over the line, and I just can't say how sorry I am for taking advantage of the situation like that." Here Harry paused, scratching his head. Ginny stared at him mutely.  
  
"It was a huge mistake." He said.  
  
No it wasn't.  
  
"It'll never happen again."  
  
He sure as hell hoped it would.  
  
'Tell me I'm wrong,' Harry thought imploringly, waiting for Ginny to say something. 'Tell me I'm wrong, and that nothing that had felt so perfect could ever be a mistake.'  
  
Ginny felt close to tears. A mistake. Harry thought their kiss had been a mistake. "You're right," she said, and didn't notice his stricken look, because she had returned her gaze to the floor. "I just don't want something like a little.mistake to ruin our friendship. I really care about you Harry." Here she choked, but forced it out so that she would clear any doubt in Harry's mind that she might still be infatuated with him. "You're like a brother to me."  
  
This could not possibly get any worse. "Well, should we agree to just forget about it, then?" Harry asked, and Ginny nodded, forcing a smile. He went over to her and hugged her, savoring the feel of her soft body against his, and pressed his lips into her hair. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Friends?" he asked huskily.  
  
Ginny forced a smile as she looked up at his handsome face. "Always," she said, kissed him on the cheek, and turned to walk up the stairs. Harry watched her go, and then sat down on the sofa, his head in his hands.  
  
That night, Ginny cried herself to sleep.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Tehehe^_^ well, I thought it was pretty good(=  
  
Review Review Review Review Review!!!! Please review! Make me feel like I'm not blowing off my Anthropology homework for no reason! (= 


	4. Chapter4

Chapter 4  
  
Disclaimer: No, I'm not JK Rowling, I'm not nearly that creative.  
  
Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! I feel so loved(= Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ginny was the first one up the next morning. She looked at the clock on the nightstand, and saw that it wasn't even eight yet. She groaned, and tried to fall back asleep, but the thoughts of the night before refused to let her rest. She got out of bed and, grabbing a change of clothes and a towel, headed for the showers.  
  
A mistake. Harry's words kept ringing through her head. How could he say that it had been a mistake when nothing had ever felt so right to her in all of her life?  
  
'Because it obviously hadn't felt right to him,' Ginny thought sadly. But it had been so wonderful. Harry had been correct in thinking that Ginny had never kissed anyone that way before, and the experience had been something that Ginny would never forget. The kisses she had given Michael had been chaste pecks, nothing even in the same league as Harry's kiss had been. This had been partly because she had only been fourteen, she hadn't really been ready for anything more, but mostly because she had still really been hung up on Harry. And she had only just started seeing Dean before term ended, so there hadn't really been any time for anything to develop there. The mere fact that the kiss had been with Harry was probably why it had been so breath-taking.  
  
But it would never happen again. Harry didn't even like her that way. At this thought Ginny became somewhat angry, and turned the taps to the water on rather roughly. It had been him who had kissed her anyway, not the other way around, she thought as she stepped under the hot spray of the shower. So why had he kissed her if he didn't like her? Had she just been some girl, just someone to start making out with when the opportunity arose? 'I just sort of got caught up in the moment. . .' Yes, he certainly had, hadn't he?  
  
Sometime later Ginny walked back into the girls dorms, having worked herself up into a fine temper. Hermione was just sitting up in bed and looked at Ginny when she walked in.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Hermione asked, watching as Ginny banged open drawers angrily, searching for her hair brush.  
  
"Nothing," Ginny said, "absolutely nothing. What could possibly be wrong? I mean, we're such great friends and everything, so why should I have anything to complain about? No, everything is just fine and dandy!"  
  
Hermione raised her hands, as if to ward off Ginny's uncharacteristic temper. "Well, well. Someone is very grumpy this morning," she said, and stood up to stretch. "I'm assuming this isn't about me."  
  
"No, it isn't," Ginny said, brushing her hair furiously.  
  
"Care to explain?"  
  
"No, I don't," Ginny put down the hairbrush and tried to calm herself.  
  
"All right," Hermione said doubtfully, heading off to the bathroom with her toothbrush. When she returned, Ginny had collected herself enough to say, "I'll wait for you downstairs," in a civil tone, and then she made her way down the steps, deep in thought.  
  
Harry was waiting for her in the common room, and he jumped up hastily from the sofa where he had been sitting when she came towards him. After a few moments of awkward silence, they both started to speak at the same time.  
  
"Ginny, listen, I-"  
  
"Look, Harry, I think we-"  
  
They stopped in mid-sentence, and Ginny said, "You first."  
  
"Gin, I just want to make sure we're okay. I really don't want what happened last night, as good as it was, to get in the way of our friendship."  
  
Ginny, slightly appeased by the fact that Harry had now acknowledged that the kiss had been good, was still about to vent some of her anger on him when she caught the concern in his eyes. Whatever else, he did care for her, if only as a friend, and she felt her resentment melt away. She could not blame him for not having feelings for her, any more then she could be blamed for being unable to control her feelings for him. She looked away from him. "I thought we had agreed to forget about that," she muttered, and looked up again to catch the relieved expression on his face.  
  
"Just wanted to make sure," Harry grinned. Having Ginny as a friend, he had decided, was better then no Ginny at all.  
  
Just then they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and looked up to see Hermione entering the room. "Ready to put our plan into motion?" Harry whispered to Ginny out of the side of his mouth. Ginny nodded but didn't say anything, because Hermione had just walked up beside her.  
  
"Still angry?" Hermione asked. Ginny gave her a look that said 'drop it', while Harry looked at the both of them inquiringly. "Never mind," Hermione said quickly, catching on. "Though I will be talking to you about this later, Ginny. Is Ron coming down soon?"  
  
It took Harry a second to realize that the question was being asked of him, as he had been trying to interpret Hermione's strange comments. "Oh, yeah, he should be down any second now."  
  
Five minutes later Ron came bounding down the stairs. Hermione said, "Well, it took you long enough," to which Ron was about to respond nastily, when Harry said, loudly, "So, wonder what type of weather we're going to have today."  
  
Distracted, Ron looked at him strangely, and then said, smiling, "I don't know, maybe you should consult the open window you're standing next to."  
  
Harry tried his best to look surprised, "Oh, didn't realize that was there. Let's get downstairs, then."  
  
Hermione and Ginny headed out into the hall first, Ron and Harry following. Harry tried to walk slowly, and he and Ron were soon far enough behind to not be overheard by the others.  
  
Harry turned to Ron. "Hermione looks very nice today, don't you think?" Harry asked casually. Ron looked at him, clearly thinking he was joking, but since Harry was doing his best to keep a straight face, Ron took him seriously.  
  
"Err, yeah, I guess so. She looks the same as always, though."  
  
"Hmm. . . maybe I just haven't noticed before what a great figure she's developed," Harry said, doing his best to hide a smile at the horrified look on Ron's face. After all, the comment wasn't at all untrue. She had developed rather nicely.  
  
"Harry, are we talking about Hermione? Because if we are, you'd better stop it, you shouldn't be saying stuff like that."  
  
"Why not?" Harry said. "What's to stop me from saying that I like Hermione?"  
  
"Well, nothing, it's just that, it's, it's. . ." Harry could tell Ron was really thinking hard, "WRONG, that's all! I mean, we've been friends with her since we were eleven. I mean, it's Hermione!"  
  
"I'm aware of that," Harry said, unable to hold back his smile. "But why should that stop me from going after her if I'm attracted to her?"  
  
"Going after her!" Ron was in shock. "Attracted to her! Are you listening to yourself? This is Hermione! You better not make a move on her, or. . . I don't know, but I'll be really upset."  
  
"Why?" Harry asked, looking at Ron attentively, "Are you interested in her?" They might have a breakthrough much earlier then expected if this continued to go in the right direction.  
  
For a second Ron was at a loss for words, and then he sputtered. "ME! No! I mean, it's Hermione, I'm not allowed to feel that way about her. . .why would you even suggest such a stupid. . .She would never be interested in me, anyway. I mean the whole idea is ludicrous, makes absolutely no sense. . . It's Hermione! . . . But just because I would never go out with her doesn't mean that you can!"  
  
Harry's smile widened. Ron was protesting a little too much. He would have liked to continue the conversation, but they had reached the dining hall, and the girls were now within hearing distance, so Harry just said, "We'll see," which had Ron glaring between him and Hermione for almost the entire meal. Harry ignored him, and conversed animatedly with the girls, complimenting Hermione every chance he got. But when Ron's furious gaze wasn't focused on him, he stared across the table at Ginny.  
  
". . .I really think that I might have a chance at chaser, but I'll need to practice. Do you think that you and Ron could help me, Harry?" Ginny asked as she set her fork down on her empty plate.  
  
"Sure!" Harry said. "I haven't been flying since last term, and I could really use a good practice. Do you want to go today?" Ginny nodded excitedly. "You, Ron?"  
  
"You know it!" Ron said, having perked up at the thought of quidditch. "Lets go now! Ginny, Harry and I'll meet you in the front hall after we get our brooms, Okay?"  
  
"Great!" Ginny said, her face lit with excitement. She ran from the hall, skipping a little, and Harry thought that she was absolutely adorable.  
  
"Well, I guess I'm on my own, then," Hermione said. Harry did his best to convince her to come, but she insisted that she needed to do some research for SPEW anyway.  
  
"Suit yourself. Let's GO Harry." Ron said, clearly anxious to get on the field now that he had his mind set on it.  
  
Ten minutes later they were on their way to the quidditch pitch, Ron and Ginny walking on either side of Harry, who was carrying a large trunk holding his quidditch supplies. Harry was using the opportunity to talk about Hermione as much as possible, saying how disappointed he was that she wouldn't join them, how much he enjoyed her company, how wonderful and attractive she was, how he couldn't wait till he saw her again.  
  
By the time they arrived at the pitch Ron was glaring mutinously at Harry, and Ginny, noticing this, was doing her best not to dissolve into a fit of giggles. Harry winked at her, and stopped talking long enough to open the trunk.  
  
Ron looked at the set enviously. "Where did you get that?" he asked, picking up the quaffle and tossing it in the air.  
  
"Oh," Harry said, and hesitated. "Well, Fred and George, actually. They sent it for my birthday."  
  
"Yeah, they've been feeling pretty generous ever since their shop started really selling. Bought Gin a new broom and a whole new set of robes for me. This is really nice, though, must have cost a fortune. Maybe they figure they owe you 'cause you gave them all that money to start up."  
  
"Hmm," Harry said noncommittally, obviously not wanting to continue on with the subject. Ginny smiled at him sympathetically and, taking the quaffle from Ron, said "well, what are we waiting for, let's go!" and sped away, holding the quaffle high and waving it around tauntingly.  
  
Though Harry was a seeker and Ron a keeper, they spent most of the time practicing chaser strategies for Ginny's benefit. Harry was pleasantly surprised by how well she flew, and after half an hour of rigorous practice, he was convinced that there was no reason why Ginny shouldn't easily make the team.  
  
"Wow, Gin, that was excellent!" Harry exclaimed to a beaming Ginny, who had just pulled off the Benaldi-rotation quite nicely in order to catch a rather wild throw from Ron.  
  
"Thanks!" Ginny beamed, throwing the quaffle to him. Just a little exhausted, they had stopped their more serious practice, and were now hovering in a triangle formation, throwing the quaffle around lazily.  
  
After a while Harry's thoughts turned back to the Ron/Hermione dilemma. He grinned. Going for the element of surprise, he said, "you know, Ron, I think I might ask Hermione out before term starts," and watched in amusement as Ron almost dropped the quaffle he had just caught.  
  
"What is with you, Harry! You've never said anything about liking her that way before, and I've been-" Ron stopped himself, and Harry thought that he might have almost pushed Ron over the edge. "Under no circumstances are you going to go out with Hermione!"  
  
"And why not," Harry said, feigning anger. "If she likes me-"  
  
"She doesn't!" Ron said adamantly.  
  
"Well, IF she does," Harry said, staring Ron down, "then when I ask her out it will be her decision to go with me, not yours."  
  
"She. . . will. . .not. . go . . .out. . .with. . . you!" Ron shouted, and threw the quaffel violently at Ginny in his anger.  
  
She had been riveted by the argument going on between the two boys, and was taken by surprise. The quaffle caught her hard in the chest, and Ginny, winded, lost her grip on the broom as she grabbed for the quaffle. She could feel herself slipping, and suddenly she was falling, head first, the ground closing in on her at an amazing speed, and she closed her eyes, letting out a terrified scream-  
  
But then, abruptly, she was flying again, and, looking up at Harry's face, she fainted.  
  
Harry hadn't even stopped to think. As soon as she had started to slip he had been hurtling towards her. He landed, and set Ginny down on the grass. His face drained of color as he looked down at her. If he had been even a second later, she would have hit the ground. That he had caught her at all had been somewhat of a miracle; he didn't think he had ever flown that fast in his entire life.  
  
"Is she all right?" Ron asked worriedly from behind him.  
  
Harry turned on him, "Yes, no thanks to you! What the hell Ron! She could have died! What were you thinking, throwing the quaffle at her like that when she wasn't paying attention!"  
  
Ron, who had been looking guilty, shouted back, "It's not like I did it on purpose! And besides, if you hadn't made me so angry, I would have been paying more attention to what I was doing!"  
  
Harry turned away from Ron and looked down at Ginny. Ron was right. If anything had happened to Ginny it would have been partially his fault. Why was everyone he cared about at some time or another in mortal peril because of him?  
  
Ginny opened her eyes groggily, and Harry kneeled down next to her, saying "Gin, are you all right?" For a second it seemed as if Ginny didn't know where she was, and then suddenly she remembered.  
  
She sat up straight and hugged Harry tightly around the neck. She was trembling a little, and whimpering pathetically. Harry patted her back awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Harry looked at Ron pleadingly, but Ron just shrugged his shoulders, as if to say "beat's my ass, you think I know how to handle this?", so Harry just sat there, patting her back and trying to placate her.  
  
"Gin, you're okay. Calm down. You're safe and you're on the ground. You're OKAY Ginny."  
  
"I know," she gasped, but when Harry tried to ease her away from him, she only gripped tighter. She couldn't seem to stop her trembling. "It's just that. . . I can still see the ground coming towards me. I almost died Harry!"  
  
Harry gently, but forcefully, removed Ginny's arms from around his neck. "Ginny, you've faced death eaters before and didn't react anything like this. Why are you so shaken by what was nothing more then a fall?" He figured that the more he downplayed the event, the less panicked she would be.  
  
Ginny forced herself to calm down. "It's just that, well, with the death eaters I could fight back. There was nothing that I could do to stop myself from hitting the ground just then. I just felt so. . . helpless."  
  
Harry looked her in the eye, "I know," he said sympathetically, "but I was there to catch you."  
  
At his words she felt herself begin to calm, and she took a deep breath. Everything was okay, Harry had caught her and she was okay. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ron approaching tentatively. Suddenly her fear turned into anger.  
  
"Never, Ron, don't you EVER do anything like that again, do you hear me? Do you know what would have happened if Harry hadn't been here!"  
  
"It was his fault that I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing in the first place!"  
  
"Don't even try to blame him for what happened!" Ginny yelled at him. "You need to learn how to control yourself! Ohhh, you're such an ass! You think that Harry might go out with Hermione, so you almost kill me!" Ginny felt herself start to loose control. "Why don't you just grow up and admit that you have-"  
  
"Some serious issues that you need to work out," Harry interrupted loudly, giving Ginny a warning look. She became quiet, but was silently fuming.  
  
Ron looked like he wanted to continue arguing, but thinking better of it, he stopped himself. "You're right, Ginny. I could have really hurt you and I'm sorry for that."  
  
Ginny looked at her brother. He was so stubborn. "Oh, just come here," she said, and walked over to hug him.  
  
He let her go and looked down at her. "Listen, Gin, it wouldn't really be necessary for you to tell Mom about this, would it? I mean I'd promise to make it up to you if you didn't."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "You are so annoying, Ron. No, I won't tell mum. Even if I did want to get you into trouble, I don't think she would ever let me on the quidditch field again."  
  
Ron looked relieved. "Thanks Gin," he muttered. "I'm going to head back now. Are you guys coming?"  
  
"I need to get my quidditch stuff back in the trunk," Harry said, "Would you mind giving me a hand, Gin?"  
  
"No, not at all," Ginny said, catching on that Harry wanted to talk to her.  
  
"Well I'll see you guys later then," Ron said, and turned to leave.  
  
Ginny and Harry watched him go, and once he was out of sight Harry turned to Ginny. "You all right, now?"  
  
"Yeah," Ginny said, "I think that I'm more fed up with Ron then anything."  
  
"I know, you almost slipped just then."  
  
"Well, would that have been so bad?" Ginny asked. "Why are we going through with all this, anyway. I mean, wouldn't it just be easier to just say 'Ron you like Hermione and we all know it, and Hermione likes you too, so why don't you two just hook up, because you're driving everyone else bonkers.'"  
  
"Well, sure, it would be easier, but where would the fun be in that?" he grinned. "Besides, we need to get Ron to admit it on his own. If we force him to face it too suddenly like that, I think he might just become resentful and deny his feelings just to spite us."  
  
"Ugh! Why are boys so fricken dense!"  
  
"We're not all dense! Just Ron," Harry laughed, and Ginny couldn't help but laugh with him.  
  
"Whatever you say. But I don't think I can take too much of this Harry, so promise me we'll get the two of them alone together soon."  
  
"Don't worry," Harry said, "Ron's closer to the breaking point then I thought. I think that tomorrow night would be the perfect time to put phase two of the plan into motion. . ."  
  
"You are such a dork," Ginny said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"No I'm not!"  
  
"Ohh, yes you are," she said, smiling, and turned to head back to the castle. But suddenly she was tackled to the ground, and Harry was on top of her, lying against her back. She gasped.  
  
"I'm going to have to ask you to take that back Ginny, or you'll make me do something that I might regret later," Harry said close to her ear.  
  
"I only speak the truth," Ginny said with as much courage as she could muster.  
  
"I'm sorry to hear you say that," Harry said, and Ginny's eyes widened as she gave out a great shout of laughter. Harry, still holding her firmly in place with his weight, had begun to tickle her.  
  
She struggled, wriggling against him, all the while giggling uncontrollably, shouting, "stop, stop!" She managed to turn herself around so that she faced him, and looked up at him, tears in her eyes, gasping through her laughter "H- Harry, you n-need to st-stop! I c-c-can't t-take any more!"  
  
"Not till you take back what you said," Harry said, smiling as he tickled her harder.  
  
"N-n-never!" she shouted, and soon she was actually crying, she was laughing so hard.  
  
"You can end it all now, Ginny," Harry laughed, "just tell me three little words: 'I was wrong'."  
  
Ginny finally gave in, "I was wrong, I w-was wrong! Harry Potter is the most un-dorkiest, coolest boy I've ever met in my life!" she said, still laughing.  
  
"And don't you forget it," Harry grinned, and finally stopped torturing her.  
  
Harry let go and stared into her eyes as her giggles subsided. Still lying partially on top of her, he leaned up and raised his hand, brushing the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. Slowly, Ginny's smile faded to a slight grin. He was staring into her eyes almost adoringly, and Ginny was reminded about the other time they had been in a similar position, and she thought that she would not mind at all if history repeated itself. . .  
  
Suddenly reason took over. 'Stop, Ginny,' she told herself, 'They might feel good now, but Harry's kisses don't mean anything. As wonderful as he is, as much as he likes you as a friend, he's still just a teenage boy with raging hormones. Don't make a fool of yourself again.'  
  
She cleared her throat and said, "The ground is quite uncomfortable, would you mind letting me up?"  
  
Harry, who had been thinking about the kiss of the night before, and wondering how she became more and more beautiful with each passing second, came suddenly to his senses. "Oh, yeah, sorry," he said, and stood, reaching down to help her up.  
  
When she was standing, she brushed off her clothes and looked up at him. When had he gotten so tall? "Should we head back then?" she asked, attempting to cover the awkward silence.  
  
"Yeah, could you help me with the trunk, though?"  
  
"Sure," Ginny said, and was surprised at how heavy it was even though she was only holding one side. How had he gotten it over here without any help?  
  
They were halfway back to the castle, walking in companionable silence, when Ginny said, teasingly, "you really are a dork, you know."  
  
"Am not."  
  
"Are too."  
  
"You just never learn, do you?"  
  
"Nope!" Ginny said, and smiled widely at him, but he just shook his head and grinned.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Well, phooey, I wasn't too crazy about that chapter, but its okay, I suppose. The next one should be much better *hehehe*, and NO, they're not going to do 'it'. . .yet(=  
  
Please Review!  
  
Oh! I have a pointless question: I'm reading OotP over again (yes, I'm one of those geeks who reads books multiple times) and I was wondering, what does "are you taking the mickey" mean? It's been bugging me. Is it a British thing? I'm assuming it means something like "are you on crack", but that seems like a strange thing to put in a 'children's' book. . . 


	5. Chapter5

Chapter 5  
  
Disclaimer: okay, enough is enough. JKR owns EVERYTHING, as I'm sure you all know. I won't be putting this on any future chapters, although it holds true for them also *"duh" says author, rolling her eyes*.  
  
One of my reviewers brought up the Dean dating Ginny issue, and I'd like to point out that I have addressed it several times in the story, though only in passing. It will become a bigger problem when term starts and. . .oops! Don't want to give away too much(=  
  
Another was Harry's character. Yes, I know, he's a little. . .fluffier then the real thing, a little OOC, and this is mostly to make things easier on myself. (A little fluff never hurt anyone^_^) I'm trying not to be too out there, but this is how I sort of see Harry if all this crap didn't keep happening to him. Kind of like Harry on anti-depressants(: Plus, I think of him as having matured a little more, maybe, at least to the point where he's no longer taking his problems out on other people. I didn't set out for the story to be totally believable, anyway- I'm just trying to have fun with this(:  
  
Thanks to all the reviewers who answered the mickey question!(= No more, please, I'm good-lol. Also thanks to all my reviewers in general- I really didn't expect this story to do this well, and all the interest is making me try to get it out faster! I might make it a little longer then I thought I would, too(:  
  
I'm really sorry it took me longer then usual to get this chapter out; I've been sick and I really should be catching up on my practicing and homework rather then writing this (damn summer school, why did I want to get my GenEds done early?), but. . . this is more fun(: From now on I'll be updating every 3-4 days.  
  
And now that I've gotten all that over with, here's your chapter. There's some more making out in this one, which a lot of people seem to like *grin*, and a little bit of swearing, just to warn you. . .Let me know what you think! ^_^  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hermione, I need your help," Ginny said early the next afternoon, setting down an impressive pile of books that was dwarfed by the mountains weighing down the table occupied by Hermione. "I was wondering-"  
  
"One sec," Hermione said distractedly, cutting her off. Ginny huffed and began tapping her toe impatiently as Hermione scanned down the last page. Finally, she closed it with a loud thump and sighed contentedly, then turned to Ginny. "Yes?"  
  
"Well," Ginny said, sitting down, "Last year I had a lot of trouble with astronomy, and I figured since we still have a little extra time before classes begin, maybe you could help me start to catch up a little. I mean, I have OWLs coming up this year and I'm getting a little nervous-"  
  
"Say no more," Hermione said, picking up one of the books in Ginny's pile. "Ah, I remember this one, quite interesting." Hermione opened the large book and jumped right in, flipping to chapter four. "I think we'll start here. . ."  
  
And so Hermione rambled on for nearly half an hour to a very confused looking Ginny, until finally Hermione closed the book and said irritably, "I don't understand why you're not getting this Ginny, it's really not all that complicated."  
  
"I know," Ginny said dispiritedly, "I wish I had a telescope, I do much better when I'm looking at the real thing."  
  
"Well, that's it then!" Hermione said brightly, "Why don't we camp out in the astronomy tower tonight? That way you could see what I'm talking about."  
  
"What a brilliant idea, Hermione! Are you sure you don't mind?"  
  
"Not at all, it'll be fun! What time do you want to meet? Is eight all right with you?"  
  
"Ummm. . ." Ginny appeared to be thinking. "How about nine? I have some. . .things I need to do."  
  
"All right. Fine with me," Hermione said, packing away a massive pile of books, and carrying what wouldn't fit in her bag. "I'm going to bring these up to the room; see you at dinner then."  
  
"Yup, see you then." Ginny said, watching her leave. She sat down with her astronomy book and waited.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Close by, Harry was trading cards with Ron in the common room. "Listen, mate, I probably won't be back till late tonight."  
  
"Why?" Ron asked, looking up from his newly acquired Leopoldina Smethwyck. "What's up?"  
  
"Oh, nothing, I just. . .have something I need to do."  
  
"Oh, come on," Ron said irritably, "you can't do that to a person. What's going on?"  
  
"You'll find out soon enough," Harry grinned, "I just didn't want you to come looking for me. I don't know when I'll be back. Could be past your bed time, didn't want you waiting up."  
  
"Prat," Ron said, organizing his cards and putting them away with an uncharacteristic neatness. "Fine, don't tell me what you're up to. Like I even want to know, anyway."  
  
"Oh, yes you do," Harry smiled, and Ron smacked him upside the head jokingly. Harry got up, saying, "I told Ginny that I'd let her borrow some of my quidditch books, so I'm going to meet her in the library. I'll see you later."  
  
"I don't know, I might 'have something I need to do'!" Ron called after him and Harry grinned.  
  
He found Ginny waiting for him in the library as planned, and he sat down next to her as she set down the astronomy book she had been flipping through.  
  
"So, how'd it go?  
  
"Good. I made her think the whole thing was her idea." Ginny frowned. "I really don't like lying to Hermione like this."  
  
"Ah, no harm done. It's not like we're doing this maliciously. I think the whole thing is quite funny, actually."  
  
"Still," Ginny said, chewing her bottom lip. Then she grinned. "It was fun pretending to be an idiot, though. I actually did quite well in astronomy."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Ready to go?" Hermione said, looking up as Ginny entered the room later.  
  
"Yeah," Ginny said, scanning over the pile of overnight supplies she had prepared earlier, "I think it's all here, lets go." She lugged her sleeping bag and a pile of books down the stairs. She knew that the common room would be empty, she had checked to make sure Ron was upstairs a couple minutes ago, and they could hear him playing some music on his muggle stereo up in the boys' dorms.  
  
Five minutes later, they were laying out their sleeping bags in the Astronomy tower, and Hermione was chatting happily about hoping to see some constellation or another. Ginny, swallowing a wave of guilt at what she was about to do to one of her best friends, slapped her hand to her forehead, as if amazed by her own stupidity.  
  
"I can't believe it, Hermione, but I've forgotten one of my texts. I'll be back in a couple of minutes, all right?"  
  
"Take your time," Hermione said, adjusting the many knobs on one of the telescopes and looking through it periodically.  
  
Ginny walked hurriedly out of the room, and met Harry halfway back to Gryffindor. "Harry, I don't know if this is such a good idea."  
  
"Oh, come on, Gin, this is for the long term good. They might be upset with us at first, but when they see our intentions are in the right place, they'll get over it," he said, a little irritably. When Ginny still looked unsure he sighed, patting her back, and said, "If you really don't want to go through with this, we don't have to."  
  
Ginny thought it over for a second, and then shook her head resolutely, "No. I can't stand their arguing one more day. Let's get this over with."  
  
"Excellent," Harry grinned, "Do you have what you need?"  
  
"Yes," Ginny said, holding up a small candy, "This better work as Fred and George said it would."  
  
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Harry said, "I'm going to get out of the way now, so that Ron doesn't run into me, but I'll meet you back up there soon. You put the extendable ears in place, right?"  
  
"Everything's set, just go. I need to do this before I lose my nerve."  
  
"Okay, good luck," Harry said, and headed in the direction from which Ginny had just come.  
  
When Ginny made it to the portrait leading into Gryffindor, she stopped and took a deep breath, preparing herself. She then took the candy and bit off one half of it, chewing quickly and swallowing. For a second everything was fine.  
  
Quite suddenly she started crying hysterically, great sobs wracking her entire body. She stuttered the password, and the fat lady looked at her strangely before swinging open. Ginny's hands were shaking as she crawled through the portrait hole. She was stumbling towards the stairs to the boys' dorms when she heard a voice behind her.  
  
"Ginny? What happened Ginny, what's the matter?"  
  
She turned and saw Ron sitting on the couch. He had obviously come down after they had left before. He stood up and made as if to come toward her, looking very alarmed. Ginny ran towards him and threw her arms around him.  
  
"Oh Ron! I just d-don't know what to do! I n-never thought that anything l-like this would happen. How c-could he do this Ron? How?"  
  
"Ginny, calm down, what did who do?"  
  
"H-Harry. H-he. . . No, I shouldn't t-tell you, I don't want you to h-hurt him. . ."  
  
Ron stiffened. "What did he do to you?" he said quietly.  
  
"N-nothing, it's just th-that. . .it's just that. . ." she was sobbing so hard that she could barely speak. "It's just that I st-still l-love him, and I guess I j-just d-didn't want to think about him e-ever being with someone else. And HER! She's my f-friend. How c-could they do th-this?"  
  
"Do WHAT Ginny?" Ron asked urgently, but he was afraid that he already knew.  
  
"W-well," Ginny said, and tried to wipe away some of the tears that continued to pour down her face, "I w-was going to the astronomy tower to use a t-telescope, and I saw. . .I s-s-saw-"  
  
"WHAT!" Ron almost shouted, becoming frantic, gripping her arms and shaking her slightly.  
  
"Harry and Hermione! I-in the Astronomy tower. A-And you know w-what goes on up th-there. . ."  
  
Ginny stopped at the rage she saw in her brother's eyes. For a second the only sound in the room was Ginny's heavy sobs, and then Ron let go of her abruptly and said, almost calmly, "I'll kill him."  
  
He turned and walked purposefully from the room. Ginny called after him, "Please, Ron, d-don't h-hurt anyone!" but she had a feeling that he didn't hear her.  
  
She sat down on the sofa and, still shaking, took out the other half of the candy and swallowed it hastily. Almost immediately her tears stopped. She sat for a few seconds, collecting herself, and then got up and started walking hurriedly after Ron toward the Astronomy tower, still sniffling.  
  
She just hoped that Harry had done as he said he would and gotten out of the way, because she had a feeling that they might have pushed Ron over the edge.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ron thought he might very well be capable of committing the murder he had just claimed he would. Just then, he wasn't remembering that Harry was his best friend; that he thought of him as a brother. Harry was nothing to him right now but a man who was taking something that belonged to him. 'I have something I need to do.' The prick. 'You know what goes on up there. . .' Ginny had said. He certainly did, and poor Ginny had probably come upon them going at it. Harry was a dead man.  
  
And Hermione! He had thought that she was better then this. But no, they had gone sneaking behind his back, like rats. His hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides, and he very much would have liked to have Harry's neck between them. He didn't even try to calm himself down, but instead he felt the rage inside him growing infinitely, and was sure that at any second he would explode. Walking up the stairs to the astronomy tower, he wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do, but whatever it was, he knew that Harry wouldn't be walking away from it whole.  
  
He stopped in the doorway and looked into the room, breathing hard. He saw Hermione, sitting on the floor in her pajamas, a book open in her lap, and was struck by how innocently gorgeous she looked. He shook the tender feelings off with little trouble, thinking of what a betraying bitch she was, acting like she was better then everyone else. And he had believed it. But no more.  
  
"Where is he?" Ron asked quietly walking slowly into the room, slamming the door behind him, and scanning his surroundings with a deadly calm. He was hiding somewhere, the sneak.  
  
"Ron!" Hermione said, acting as if she was glad to see him. Obviously they had found out he was coming, somehow, and she was trying to act as if nothing was wrong to throw him off. "What are you doing here? Have you come to join Ginny and me? We're studying-"  
  
"Oh, shut up," Ron shouted in disgust, unable to listen to anymore, and advancing on her menacingly. "That won't work with me. Ginny just came to me and told me everything, you little slut."  
  
Hermione was shocked into silence, and then she stood up, shaking with anger. "How DARE you! How dare you say such a nasty thing to me, completely unprovoked-"  
  
"Unprovoked, HA!" Ron shouted, and gripped Hermione's arms violently, "Well, your actions speak differently, Miss High-and-Mighty. Did you really think I wouldn't find out? You better tell me where he his now, Hermione, or-"  
  
"Where WHO is?" Hermione shouted desperately. She had never seen Ron like this. "Ron, you have to tell me what's going on, obviously there's been some kind of misunderstanding! Ron, please let go, your scaring me-"  
  
"You should be scared," Ron said, squeezing her arms harder.  
  
"Ron, you're hurting me! You have to calm down and tell me what's going on! I don't know what Ginny told you, but-"  
  
It happened so fast that neither of them knew what was coming. Ron had just wanted to stop the lies pouring out of her beautiful lips, and suddenly he was kissing her violently, shutting out whatever lie she was about to throw at him, pulling her tightly against him. She struggled, trying to bite his tongue when he stuck it in her mouth, and pushing against his chest urgently. But he was much taller then her, and quidditch had made him stronger, more muscular, when before he had just been lanky, and he had little trouble holding her still. For several moments the kiss was hot and violent. But then it changed.  
  
Ron had lifted one of his hands to her cheek, to hold her head still, and was brought to his senses when he felt tears there. He suddenly remembered that it was Hermione that he held in his arms, who was struggling to break away from him. Hermione, who he cared for, who he loved, despite what she had done. He pulled away slightly and looked into her eyes, and was ashamed at the pain and hurt he saw there. His grip gentled, and she looked as if she would pull away.  
  
Hermione stilled when she saw the tender look in his eyes. A thousand times she had imagined how kissing Ron would be, but never had she imagined anything as awful as this. And she didn't even know what had brought it on. He was wiping the tears off her face, and he brought his other hand away from her arm to smooth down her hair, which had come loose from its braid as she had struggled. Through the haze of emotional pain she was suffering, she could see the hurt in his eyes as well. She didn't know what to think, and that was a first for her.  
  
He was cupping her jaw gently, his lips only inches from hers. She gazed into the face of the one who was so precious to her, and he whispered, "I'll make you forget about him." Before she could stop him to ask what he was talking about, he was leaning into her again, and she forgot to think at all.  
  
This was how she had imagined kissing Ron would be, and yet it was so much more. His arms came around her, holding her close to him, and she felt herself fitting perfectly against him. Their passion ran high in their anger and confusion, yet there was tenderness there, and the kiss was gentle at first; nothing more then the soft touch of their lips brushing together, their breath mingling as they gasped for air. Hermione's arms came up to circle around his neck, and she weaved her fingers through his hair, pulling him down to her as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss, opening her mouth to him. This time, when his tongue entered her mouth, she did not bite it, but instead welcomed it by sucking gently, and she felt him shiver in response.  
  
Ron backed her into the wall and held her there by pressing himself firmly against her, while letting his hands run down her sides, grazing the sides of her breasts and over the womanly curve of her hips. She moved her hips against him instinctively, their kiss becoming more passionate by the second, their teeth scraping against each other in their anxiousness to become closer.  
  
Where had she learned to kiss like this?  
  
As the thought ran through his head Ron pulled away from her suddenly, and she almost collapsed without his weight there to support her. He let out an anguished yell, and punched the wall next to her, trying to release some of his frustration. Hermione, surprised, let out a small yelp and jumped, covering her mouth, giving him that wide eyed, frightened look.  
  
He walked away from her, and tried to calm his heavy breathing. He couldn't bring himself to look at her, and didn't turn around when a few moments later she said, softly, "Ron, tell me what's wrong."  
  
He went to one of the large windows and leaned against the sill. He said bitterly, "You learned to kiss that way from HIM, didn't you?"  
  
"Ron, what are you talking about? Who is 'he'?"  
  
"Oh you know who," Ron said, turning around, "Ginny told me she saw the two of you up here, and it didn't take much imagination to figure out what you were up to."  
  
"Ron, WHO?"  
  
"Harry!" He spat as if it was an epithet. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."  
  
"But Ron, I don't!" Hermione said urgently, approaching him. "I don't know why Ginny would say something like that, but I haven't even seen Harry since we left the Great Hall tonight. I came up here to tutor Ginny in Astronomy, not to meet Harry, of all things."  
  
She put her hand on his arm, and though he flinched a little at her touch, he didn't pull away. He stared fixedly at his feet as Hermione continued, "Ron, I've never, NEVER felt that way about Harry. Even if I did, do you think that I'd sneak around behind your back? Do you really think Harry would?"  
  
"He might, if. . ." Ron stopped, swallowing hard, and looked into her eyes. "He might if he knew how I felt about you."  
  
Hermione's breath caught, and she couldn't tear her gaze away from his. "And how's that?" Hermione asked breathlessly.  
  
Ron didn't know what to say. Should he tell her, should he finally say it out loud? Could he believe her, believe that she was innocent as she claimed to be? He wanted to, but. . . "Let's go find Ginny. I need to know what's going on."  
  
Hermione looked away, disappointed, but nodded. This needed to be settled. She followed Ron to the door, and he turned the handle. When it wouldn't open he twisted it back and forth impatiently, but the door wouldn't budge.  
  
They were locked in.  
  
"What the-" Ron started to curse, but was interrupted by a voice on the other side of the door, a little muffled, but very clear.  
  
"Sorry, Ron, we had to lock you in, this is for your own good." It was Harry.  
  
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, confused, when Ginny spoke up from the other side of the door as well. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Ron, Hermione, please forgive me, this was all Harry's idea," there was a pause where they could here Ginny shushing Harry's protests. "Look, Ron, everything Hermione said was true, so don't be angry with her! She didn't know anything about this. You didn't hurt her, did you? It sounded like you were wrestling before, and I tried to open the door, but Harry stopped me and said that you would never hurt her, that it sounded more like snogging to him, but he didn't see how you were when you came up here. Was he right? Hermione, are you okay?" she asked urgently.  
  
Hermione was speechless for several seconds, then she called out, looking at Ron, who seemed to be in a state of confused shock, "Yes, I'm fine, Ginny. But I would really like to know what's going on."  
  
The two on the other side were quiet for a minute, and then Harry started to explain, "Well, Ginny made you think that she needed tutoring in astronomy, to get you up here tonight. Then she said she forgot something, and came down to Ron, saying that she saw you and me up here, and sort of implied that we were. . .well. . .whatever, and since I've been acting like I'm interested in you for the last couple of days, the idea was understandably not all that unbelievable to Ron. And then he came up here and, well, you know the rest."  
  
"Please, you guys, I'm sorry I lied to you both, but Harry and I couldn't stand your fighting anymore, and this was the quickest way we could think of getting results."  
  
Ron was opening and closing his mouth, and it was clear that he was still speechless. Hermione ran a hand through her hair. "I don't understand, how was this supposed to stop Ron and me from fighting?"  
  
"By making the two of you admit that you have feelings for each other," Harry said simply. Hermione looked quickly at Ron, who glanced back at her. They blushed and looked away from each other.  
  
Finally Ron spoke. "Look you guys, just open the door. We're going to get out whether you unlock it or not, we have our wands."  
  
"No you don't," Harry said smugly. "Ginny nipped Hermione's when they came up here, and she took yours when she was crying on you. So there will be no alohomora-ing your way out of this. You two are going to stay in there until you've come to grips with what you feel for each other. It'll also give you time to calm down; I understand that you might be a little angry with us-"  
  
"A little!" Ron shouted. "I swear, Harry, you better hide, because when I get out of here I'm going to beat the shit out of you. Do you know what you made me think? I could have seriously hurt Hermione!"  
  
"No you wouldn't, you love her too much." Harry said dismissively. "Now, Ginny and I are leaving, so you two behave yourselves. We'll let you out in the morning."  
  
"Bye you guys, I'm really sorry about this!" They heard Ginny call out, along with the sound of their retreating footsteps.  
  
"Harry! Ginny! Come back, let us out, this is ridiculous!" Ron said pounding on the door, but it was useless- they were gone.  
  
Hermione and Ron looked at each other, neither knowing what they were supposed to do. Hermione walked over to the sleeping bags spread out on the floor, and sank down onto one of them, staring absently into space, seemingly preoccupied with something.  
  
"This is un-frigging-believable," Ron muttered, massaging his temples. He looked at Hermione and began to approach her. "Hermione, I'm really sorry for the way I acted, if I had known-"  
  
"Was what Harry said true?" Hermione interrupted quietly, staring at him intently.  
  
Ron tensed and although he already knew the answer, he asked, "Was what Harry said about what true?"  
  
Hermione swallowed, "What Harry said about you loving me?"  
  
Ron sat down next to Hermione and, taking her hand, was surprised to find that it was trembling. "Do you want it to be?" he asked quietly when she finally met his gaze.  
  
For a second she said nothing, and then she whispered, almost imperceptibly, "Yes."  
  
Nothing in the world could have stopped Ron from kissing Hermione just then. He cupped the back of her neck with one of his hands and gripped a handful of soft curls with the other, pulling her towards him. Their lips met softly as they tumbled back onto the floor, Hermione's head landing softly on a pillow as Ron leaned over her. Her arms came around his back and she gripped his shirt tightly, kissing him back with all the love she felt in her heart. Nothing should feel this good, this perfect. She pulled back and Ron looked at her questioningly.  
  
"You didn't answer me," Hermione said, a slight smile curving her lips.  
  
"Do I even have to?" Ron asked, grinning back at her.  
  
"No, but I'd still like to hear it," Hermione said, brushing his hair off his forehead, where it lay roguishly.  
  
Ron's smile widen, "Hermione Granger, I love you more then I thought it was humanly possible to love anyone on this entire earth. I love the way you get wrapped up in a book. I love how you know everything. I love your messy hair, and I love your expressive eyes. I love it when you're bossy and your concern for others. I even love the way you argue. I love everything about you, and just the thought of you with someone else," his voice thickened with emotion, "is enough to make all the light go out of my world. I need you, Hermione. I can't breath without you."  
  
Hermione started crying, "Wow," she said, "That was really good." They laughed together, kissing each other lightly.  
  
"Isn't there something you'd like to say to me?" Ron said, smiling as he kissed her.  
  
"Oh. I guess I love you too," Hermione said grudgingly, and he chuckled, kissing her once more before pulling her down to rest her head against his chest. They lay there like that for awhile, Hermione spooned against his side, neither saying anything, neither needing to. Hermione thought there was no way that she could possibly sleep that night; too much was running through her mind.  
  
Not ten minutes later they were both asleep.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
In the Gryffindor common's Ginny was pacing nervously. "Maybe we should go back and let them out Harry. Goodness, what were we thinking?"  
  
"Stop worrying Ginny," Harry said as he got up from the couch. "Everything went off without a hitch. Will you just accept it and stop torturing yourself over it?"  
  
"I just feel so guilty Harry," Ginny said, stopping in front of him and looking at him desolately.  
  
"Of course you do," Harry said to her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders, "You're a good person, and you feel bad about lying to your friend and your brother. There's nothing wrong with that. But they were lying to themselves, Gin. We just made them face the music sooner then they might have planned to."  
  
"I suppose you're right," Ginny said, smiling at him and feeling a little better. "Ron's going to be really mad when you let him out of there. I think he just might rough you up a little."  
  
"It'll be worth it to see them happy together." Harry said absently. She smiled at him. He didn't know what came over him, but suddenly he was saying, "You know, Gin, I'm glad you got over your crush on me. You never used to be able to bring yourself to talk to me before."  
  
Ginny blushed furiously. "I was so awkward, you must have thought I was a complete freak."  
  
"No. I never thought that. I just never realized how wonderful you really are."  
  
Ginny stood there, breathless, surprised at what he had just said. And then they were leaning into each other, and Ginny's eyes closed, her lips slightly parted, waiting. . .  
  
She opened her eyes when she felt his lips touch her forehead. She looked at Harry when he pulled back, a little confused, but he just smiled at her and said, "It's been a long day, you should get some sleep. I'll meet you down here in the morning," and then walked up to his room, leaving her to stare after him.  
  
As she walked up the stairs to her bedroom, she wondered if things would ever be clear where Harry was concerned.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The End - haha. No, just kidding! Wow- that chapter took forever to write(=  
  
^_^ Hope you liked it. Leave a Review! ^_^  
  
BTW- this will be the only chapter where I write from a Ron/Hermione point of view (or at least I think so. . .) the rest of the story will focus mostly on Harry and Ginny. 


	6. Chapter6

Chapter 6  
  
Woo-hoo! So many reviews, and it's only been a week! Yay(= You guys are fan-fricken-tastic! Rock on!  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
At exactly eight thirty the next morning, Harry stood with his ear against the door to the Astronomy tower, Ginny standing behind him, bighting her lip anxiously.  
  
"Do you hear anything?"  
  
"No. Maybe we should run once we unlock the door. What do you think?"  
  
"Oh, stop it, Harry. You're going to have to face them at some time or another. Just open it and get it over with. You were fine with everything last night, saying how perfectly everything went."  
  
"Yeah, but they were still locked up then. Maybe we should just leave them in there. . ."  
  
"Harry! You unlock that door this second or I'll hex you and let them out myself!"  
  
"Oh, fine," Harry said, sufficiently threatened. With great reluctance he pulled a key from his pocket and turned it slowly in the lock. He opened the door cautiously, prepared to jump back if anything seemed amuck.  
  
He wasn't quick enough.  
  
He barely had time to register the fact that a fist was flying toward him before he went down, and landed hard on his backside. Ginny gasped and kneeled down next to him, glaring furiously toward the door as she helped him up. Harry groaned and, cradling his smarting jaw, said "That's one hell of a right-hook you've got there, Hermione."  
  
Hermione still stood in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest, her jaw stiff in her disproval. Ron stood behind her, looking down at Hermione with a mixture of indulgence and surprise. "Jeez, Hermione, when you said you'd handle it, I didn't know you meant with you're fist."  
  
"Yes, well, it seemed appropriate," she said, her militant stare still fixed on Harry.  
  
"I suppose I deserved that," Harry said as Ginny examined his jaw, where a bruise was already beginning to form, and probed it gingerly. When he winced at her touch, her eyes darkened in anger and she turned on Hermione.  
  
"There was no call for that, Hermione. I want you to apologize right now!"  
  
"I most certainly will not!" Hermione said, affronted. "He's right, he deserved it! And you better not start with me, Ginny, because I'm far from happy with you."  
  
"Oh, so are you going to hit me too, now?"  
  
"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione said, "but that doesn't mean that I'll apologize to him!"  
  
"You will!" Ginny said, becoming extremely agitated.  
  
"Ginny, its okay, don't worry about it," Harry muttered, a little shocked at how upset Ginny was getting.  
  
"No it isn't, Harry. There was absolutely no excuse for any type of violence in this situation. I can't believe you'd stoop to this level, Hermione."  
  
"Oh, you have the nerve to talk about stooping, when you blatantly lie to people who trust you!'  
  
"Cat fight!" Ron shouted jokingly, and Hermione glared at him.  
  
"Now is NOT the time, Ron," Hermione admonished, and Ron sobered, sighing and raising his brows at Harry as if to say 'oh brother'.  
  
"If anyone should be expecting an apology, it should be Ron and me!"  
  
"Yes, and Harry and I were fully prepared to offer you one, until you decided to act like a child!"  
  
Hermione's eyes widened in indignation. "With what Ron was thinking last night, he could have seriously hurt me in his temper, and all thanks to that CHILDISH stunt that the two of you pulled!"  
  
"Oh, nothing could have possibly happened!" Ginny said, and Harry looked at her doubtfully. She had taken a very different stance yesterday. "Harry and I were outside the door the entire time, and we were ready to jump in if Ron started getting out of hand. Besides, Ron's temper is an issue that you'll have to take up with Ron, not us!"  
  
"Ugh!!" Hermione growled in frustration. "We aren't getting anywhere yelling like this! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've been locked in a room for eleven hours, so I need to go find a toilet!" and with that, she stomped off down the hall, her back straight and her nose in the air, leaving a rather speechless group behind her.  
  
"Well. Umm, she told you, didn't she?" Ron grinned, and he seemed to be in a perpetually good mood.  
  
"I didn't realize she would be so upset about this," Harry said, rubbing his jaw.  
  
"Well, if you ask me, she hasn't any right to be. We were helping you out, after all." Ginny said, glowering at Ron.  
  
"Hey, don't start attacking me, Gin. Hermione and I have every right to be upset. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not pleased that Hermione and I are together now, but it still wasn't your place to interfere."  
  
"So you are 'together' then?" Harry said, a wide grin spreading over his face.  
  
"Yeah," Ron said, blushing and ducking his head to hide his own smile.  
  
"That's all well and good, but she still shouldn't have hit Harry." Ginny said, though not as vehemently as before.  
  
"I have to admit, Ron, I thought it would be you taking a swing at me."  
  
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I seriously thought about it, but I'm really too happy with how the whole fiasco turned out to be inflicting pain on anyone."  
  
"So why is Hermione so upset?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Well, you know Hermione," Ron said, shaking his head, "she likes to be in charge, in control. When she loses it, she doesn't take it well. Her ability to make her own decisions is very important to her."  
  
Ginny was quiet for a second. Again she was being swamped with guilt. Hermione had only hit Harry once, really, and if Harry hadn't been so taken by surprise he probably wouldn't have even stumbled backwards. And he had sort of deserved it. Just seeing Harry wince like that had driven her a little crazy. She wouldn't tell them that, however.  
  
"Maybe I overreacted about her hitting Harry just a little," Ginny said. "Harry, I'll go with you to Madam Pomfrey and she'll get rid of that bruise. Ron, we'll meet you in the Great Hall in twenty minutes or so, all right?"  
  
"Sure. I'm going to go find Hermione. See you guys in a few." He called over his shoulder as he walked off.  
  
"I really don't have to see Madam Pomfrey, it's only a bruise." Harry said, self-consciously.  
  
"Don't be daft. Come on." Ginny said, grabbing Harry by the elbow and hauling him after her. He protested the whole way, embarrassed to have Ginny fussing over something that, compared to other things he had been through, was quite trivial.  
  
A little later Ginny and Harry walked into the Great Hall to find Ron and Hermione sitting next to each other in an otherwise unoccupied room. Ron had his arm around Hermione's waist, and she was leaning into him and smiling at him in an adoring, very un-Hermione like fashion as he spoke to her. As they approached, Ron kissed Hermione's nose, and she giggled girlishly.  
  
"Well, that's a shocker," Harry whispered to Ginny, who nodded, just as taken aback by the love-struck Hermione, someone she had never seen before.  
  
Hermione looked over at them in mid-giggle. She immediately stopped, and pulled slightly away from Ron, who kept his arm firmly around her. While Hermione dug into her breakfast rather enthusiastically, blushing and refusing to acknowledge that Harry and Ginny had arrived at the table, Ron stared them down, daring them to say anything.  
  
After sitting down across from them, Ginny was the first to speak. "Look, Hermione, I'm sorry. I was feeling a little guilty about what I did and I guess that I just got a little defensive. I shouldn't have shouted at you like that."  
  
Hermione looked up from her plate, "No you shouldn't of, but I accept your apology. Now, about what you did last night-"  
  
"Yes, about last night," Harry said, interrupting her, "We're sorry about lying to you, Hermione. And you, Ron. But we're not sorry for what we did. You were driving us mad, Hermione, the two of you arguing all the time. We just wanted you to be happy together."  
  
"I understand that, but couldn't you have just talked to us about it?" Hermione asked.  
  
"That's what Ginny wanted to know. What is it with women always wanting to talk through everything? Do you really think just talking to Ron about his feelings would have worked?"  
  
Hermione's looked at Ron, who shrugged. She muttered, "Well, maybe not, but it could very well have worked just fine with me."  
  
"You don't get it, Hermione," that had to be a first, "we couldn't just talk to you about your feelings, neither of you, you were both in too much denial. We had to force the two of you to see what you felt for each other. And that's exactly what we did."  
  
"Yes, but what if it all had gone horribly wrong, Harry, and Ron had done something that would have made it impossible for me to forgive him?" Hermione implored.  
  
"There are too many 'what ifs' in the world for us to dwell on them all," Harry said, and Ginny saw a flash of pain in his eyes. Her heart went out to him, and Ron and Hermione looked away guiltily. That was the first time he had even alluded to the tragic events of last year since he had returned to Hogwarts. Uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken, Harry said, "Just be happy, all right?"  
  
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and then Ron cleared his throat uncomfortably, "We are, Harry. Even though we still might not be happy about how you went about making it happen, you had the right intentions." Here he took Hermione's hand. "Thanks. Both of you."  
  
Hermione was becoming a little teary eyed. "Well, I suppose your hearts were in the right place, if nothing else," she said grudgingly. "Oh, fine, let's just not talk about it anymore. But next time you have an issue, please come to me before doing something rash like that."  
  
"Done," Harry said, smiling. "Ginny, lets go get breakfast, okay?"  
  
"I am a little hungry. Don't go anywhere, you two, we'll be right back."  
  
Hermione and Ron watched the pair go, and Harry put his hand on the small of Ginny's back, to guide her in front of him. Ginny jumped and almost tripped at the contact, and, noticing this, Ron turned to Hermione.  
  
"What was that all about?" he asked her, as Hermione was still watching the pair. Harry was laughing at something Ginny had said, and she was slapping his shoulder flirtatiously.  
  
"Don't you know?" Hermione smiled.  
  
"Should I?" Ron looked perplexed.  
  
Hermione laughed, "It's obvious that they're crazy about each other. You really didn't know?"  
  
"No! Well, I've always hoped that they would want to get together, and I knew that Ginny used to, but I thought she was going with Dean now. And Harry has never even hinted to me that he liked Ginny."  
  
"Well, he wouldn't, you're her brother, aren't you? Plus, I think he's having a little trouble facing the facts. Ha! Now there's someone who's in denial."  
  
"But why wouldn't he tell Ginny? I mean, she liked him before she- oh. . ."  
  
"Precisely," Hermione said, frowning. "You said so yourself, Ginny has a boyfriend now."  
  
"But you said that she still likes Harry?"  
  
"Yes," she lowered her voice, "as a matter of fact, she was very angry at someone the other day, Harry I think, because when I brought it up in front of him, she didn't want to talk about it. I forgot about it until now, but I think something might have happened between them, and now they're trying even harder to hide whatever it is that they've got going on."  
  
"Eww," Ron said with a pained look, "I really don't want to think of my sister getting anything on with anybody."  
  
"Oh, grow up," Hermione rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"  
  
"Probably not," Ron grinned.  
  
"Well, I was thinking," Hermione said, "that we can't just TALK to them about their feelings, we need to make them SEE what they feel for each other. I was thinking," here she looked downright mischievous, "that we might need to extract a little friendly revenge."  
  
"How?" Ron asked.  
  
"You let me worry about that," she said, patting his arm. "What WERE you thinking about, anyway?"  
  
Ron got a very naughty gleam in his eyes and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened and she blushed. "Well. . .umm, that sounds very. . . interesting. Maybe we could. . .discuss that some more, later," she smiled devilishly.  
  
"There's nothing I'd enjoy discussing more," he said, and kissed her lightly. She smiled and looked away to see Harry and Ginny heading back toward them.  
  
Her smile widened. "Oh, this is going to be fun."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Okay, so I lied. There was a little more Hermione/Ron pov left in me(: I know that was a little bit of a short one, but good things are to come. . .hehehe. I have to go study for my midterm, now- I hope you all keep reading!  
  
And just in case I haven't said it enough-REVIEW! 


	7. Chapter7

Chapter 7  
  
Hola, amigos! I would have had this chapter posted yesterday, but as most of you know, the site's been having issues, so. . . If this ever happens again, and you're just DYING to read the next chapter *snort* I've started to post this on SIYE as well (under my pen name there, LaArpista). To answer a reviewer's question (I could swear I already said this, but I'm too lazy to go back and look) you can expect a new chapter every 3 days, unless I say otherwise. Maybe 2 if I've been feeling creative or 4 if I've been extremely busy. Anyway, I'll let you read now(=  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
It was two days before students were to arrive for the start of term, and most of the teachers had already returned from their summer breaks. The foursome sat by the lake, eating lunch outside for a change, enjoying one of the last days of solitude before the grounds would be swamped with hordes of students. Harry especially enjoyed times like this; he held out little hope that people would have gotten over what happened at the end of term last year. With the arrival of the students would also come whispers behind his back and gawking stares. And he was REALLY looking forward to a new wave of first years to gape at his forehead. But, surprisingly, the thing that made him most uncomfortable about term starting up was the return of Dean Thomas.  
  
He leaned back against the tree they were sitting under and looked over at Ginny now. She had finished eating and was laying on her stomach, her knees bent and her feet up in the air, her chin resting on her folded arms. She was smiling and listening attentively as Hermione spoke animatedly about the benefits of a career in medicine.  
  
"There's really so much room for discovery and improvement. And it's all so interesting, even though it isn't anything like muggle medicine, which is a fascinating subject in and of itself. I haven't decided what branch I want to go into, though."  
  
"Maybe you should just go into all of them," Ron said jokingly, looking down at Hermione, who sat between his spread legs, her back resting against his chest.  
  
Hermione seemed to consider this seriously for a second, then shook her head. "An interesting idea, but I think I'll just specialize in one or two fields."  
  
"You're a freak," Ron said in exasperation, and Hermione pinched his thigh rather hard, to let him know that she wouldn't be putting up with any name calling. "Ow! I didn't mean that in a bad way, it's just that I wish that I could find something that I knew I loved to do. I mean, I'm just okay at everything. I'm okay at quidditch, I'm okay in class, I'm an okay prefect. There just doesn't seem to be anything I'm really good at. I'll probably just end up with some desk job at the ministry."  
  
"I thought you were interested in becoming an Auror," Harry said.  
  
"Well, I was, but I failed potions, so now that's shot, isn't it?"  
  
Harry looked away uncomfortably, "I didn't do too well in potions, myself. If McGonagall hadn't sworn that she would make me an Auror, I wouldn't stand a chance of making the program after school ends."  
  
"Maybe. But it's so obvious that you were meant to be an Auror. I mean, come on, who are you kidding? And even if you didn't want to do that, you could always fall back on quidditch, or you could become a Defense teacher. You were really excellent at the DA meetings last year. But I don't have anything," Ron said sulkily, and Hermione patted his leg consolingly. Wanting to change the subject, Hermione asked, "What about you, Ginny, what do you want to do when you leave Hogwarts?"  
  
Ginny hesitated and glanced out the side of her eye at Harry, who was looking at her curiously. "Well, I'm not really sure, but lately I've been thinking more and more about. . .well, don't laugh, but. . . I was also thinking I might want to become an auror."  
  
There was a shocked silence, from which Ron was the first to recover. "Are you serious?" he asked incredulously.  
  
Ginny gave him a hurt look. He really didn't know all that much about her, for being her closest brother. "For your in formation, Ron, I've got the best grades in Defense out of anyone in my year. And my other marks aren't bad, either. I mean, Snape has always sort of had it out for me in potions, but despite that I'm not even close to failing his class."  
  
"Yeah, but you haven't told mum, have you? I mean, her only daughter chasing after dark wizards, she'll have a conniption fit!"  
  
"Ron's right, Ginny. Being an Auror is really dangerous, are you sure that you want to go into a career like that?" Hermione inquired.  
  
"How come neither of you reacted like this when Harry said that he wanted to be an Auror?" Ginny asked, becoming angry. Harry still hadn't said anything.  
  
"Well, I don't know. . . because he. . .because he's Harry Potter, for crying out loud! It's a logical thing for him to do. But you, you're. . ."  
  
"I'm what," Ginny said, gritting her teeth.  
  
"Well, you're Ginny! You shouldn't be going into anything that dangerous! You might get hurt."  
  
Ginny was about to say that she could take care of herself, thank you very much, when Harry finally decided to speak up.  
  
"Well, I think it's an excellent idea, Ginny," he declared, and Ginny was taken aback by the confidence with which he said this. "I remember our DA meetings, and you always did catch on quickly. If that's what you want to do, then you should go for it."  
  
Ginny positively beamed at him, "Why thank you, Harry, its nice to know that SOMEONE supports me," she glared at Ron and Hermione.  
  
"We support you, that was just a little unexpected, is all," Ron shrugged, and Hermione nodded in agreement. She got up and stretched. "Well, I need to start moving my stuff up to the sixth years' room today, so I think I'll get going."  
  
Ginny's face fell. "You're leaving me alone in there? Wouldn't it be just as easy to start moving everything tomorrow?"  
  
"I'm only going to move up my books today, but that should take quite a while. Do you think you could come and help me Ron?"  
  
"Are you really asking me, or did you just put that in the form of a question so that you could sound nice?"  
  
"What do you think?" Hermione asked, smiling at him charmingly.  
  
Ron sighed and got up, "I guess I'm coming, then. Are you two going to stay down here?"  
  
"I am," Ginny said, taking a deep breath, "it's so nice out, it'd be a pity to waste time inside."  
  
"I'll stay outside with Ginny, I think. We'll see you later."  
  
"Bye," Hermione called, smiling, her hand linked with Ron's as they walked back to the castle.  
  
Ginny watched them go, a little envious. "They are adorable together, don't you think?" she asked dreamily.  
  
"Hmm. . ." Harry muttered, but he didn't glance at the happy couple, he was too busy looking at Ginny, thinking, as he so often did, about how much he would like to kiss her.  
  
There had been no close calls since the night that they had pulled off their plan, and he didn't know what he should think about that. He didn't even catch Ginny watching him when she thought he wasn't looking any more, something that had given him hope that there might be some kind of bond forming between them. They still spent a lot of time together, especially now that Ron and Hermione were so involved with each other. The pair would often go off alone and leave Harry and Ginny to their own devices.  
  
His thoughts turned back to their near kiss the other night. He wasn't even entirely sure why he had held back. Maybe it had felt too much like he was taking advantage of her. And the fact that Ginny was still seeing Dean had definitely been on his mind a lot lately.  
  
She never talked about him, though, and that in itself was a little encouraging. He wasn't exactly sure how long they had been seeing each other before term had ended last year, but he found himself hoping that it hadn't been long. It would be easier for her to break it off if they weren't that involved.Â He felt a little guilty that he had every intention of getting in between Ginny and Dean once term started. He actually liked Dean very much, had always gotten along well with him. But he knew that Dean's feelings for Ginny couldn't possibly be as strong as his were.  
  
"What are you thinking about?" Harry was jolted from his thoughts by Ginny's voice. She had sat up and was looking at him in that patient, curious way of hers.  
  
Harry cleared his throat and brought up the other topic that had been on his mind ever since they had executed their plan two nights ago. "Just how lonely this year is going to be now that I've lost Ron and Hermione."  
  
"What do you mean," Ginny looked concerned.  
  
"Well I'll still see them of course, but haven't you noticed? They're all over each other. I almost prefer their arguing. And they're always going off to be alone together. It's only the beginning, and I'm already starting to feel like I'm the odd person out. After all, you know what they say, three's a crowd."  
  
"Who says that?"  
  
"Oh, sorry, muggle thing," he smiled at her.  
  
She gave him a lopsided grin, "Well, if you ever feel out of place, you just come see me, Harry."  
  
"Will do, but. . ." Harry stopped himself. He really didn't want to bring this up.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's just that, aren't you going with Dean?" Harry asked uneasily.  
  
Ginny's grin vanished, "Sort of. Why would that matter?"  
  
What did she mean, 'sort of'? "I don't know, I wouldn't want to encroach on your time with him or anything."  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes, "Are you kidding me? Besides, Dean and I aren't like that."  
  
"Aren't like what?" Harry asked hopefully.  
  
"Well. I don't know," Ginny blushed. She couldn't believe she was talking about this to Harry. "We just haven't, well, gotten that far, I guess."  
  
Harry felt as if a huge weight was being lifted off of his shoulders. "That's good," he said before he could stop himself, and then turned beet red when her eyes widened in surprise.  
  
Ginny was sure she had misheard him. "Did you just say 'that's good'?" she asked, trying to look him in the eye, but he dodged her gaze and covered, "Well, I just meant that, err, it's good that you aren't rushing things. You're too young."  
  
"Excuse me, I'm not that young. I know plenty of girls in my year who have already done the deed."  
  
"What!?" Harry shouted, in shock at what had just come out of her mouth.  
  
Ginny got a thoughtful look on her face and it appeared as if she was about to start counting people off on her fingers, "Well, there's-"  
  
"I don't need to know," Harry said quickly, looking horrified.  
  
"Oh, come on, Harry, it's the '90s. People just don't want to wait anymore."  
  
"Well, I hope that YOU will," Harry glowered at her.  
  
Ginny turned scarlet, "What kind of girl do you think I am, Harry? Don't you worry," she hesitated and her voice lowered unintentionally, "I'm waiting for someone really special."  
  
'You're waiting for me,' Harry thought, and then stilled at the thought that had just run through his mind. This girl was driving him crazy, he had to get away before he actually slipped and said something that he would later regret. He stood up quickly, "Well then, umm, I think I'll head back now. You coming?"  
  
Ginny looked at him curiously. That had been very sudden. "No, I think I'll take a walk."  
  
Harry, relieved, let go of the breath he had been holding. "All right. I'll see you later." And then he turned and left. Ginny thought that if he had gone any faster he would have been running.  
  
Ginny got up and smiled to herself as she walked leisurely to the edge of the lake. If she didn't know better, Harry had just been acting jealous.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Holy smokes! How many books do you own, Hermione!" Ron asked, staring in disbelief at the pile that nearly obscured her bed from sight.  
  
"Well, I don't actually own all of them, some of them are from the library," she volunteered defensively.  
  
"Oh, well then," Ron said sarcastically, and Hermione hit his shoulder.  
  
"Stop whining. Listen, we're going to do it tonight."  
  
"You want to DO IT tonight!?" Ron exclaimed, looking rather like he had just won the lottery.  
  
"NO! Not IT, you pervert!" Hermione scowled at him as she began lifting books, but then laughed at the crestfallen expression on his face. "We're going to get Harry and Ginny together."  
  
"Oh," Ron scratched his head, "Maybe we shouldn't do this Hermione."  
  
"We're just giving back as good as we got, no more."  
  
"That's exactly what worries me. Are you forgetting how, um, busy we got when we were alone up there? I mean, I don't like the thought of leaving Ginny alone with a guy in a, err, romantic situation, even if the guy is Harry."  
  
"Oh, Ginny's a big girl, she can take care of herself. Besides, Harry wouldn't do anything to take advantage of her."  
  
"I don't know, sometimes girls can drive guys to act as they normally wouldn't." He looked at her pointedly. It struck him as funny that he was the voice of reason for a change.  
  
Hermione pouted, and set down the books she had been organizing, "Fine, Ron, we'll just let them get away with what they did," her lower lip began to quiver.  
  
'Oh no, not the pout,' Ron thought, feeling his resolve crumbling. "Oh, all right, but if this goes wrong, it's on your head, not mine," he conceded, and Hermione smiled hugely at him and threw her arms around his neck, giving him a smacking kiss on the lips.  
  
"It's a simple plan, Ron, what could possibly go wrong?"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Later that night Ginny sat alone in the common room, reading. Or, to put it more accurately, staring blankly at the pages of a book as she thought of Harry. She looked up as Hermione came clattering down the stairs from their room, clutching a small piece of paper in her hand. Before Ginny could say anything, Hermione had run over to her and was shoving the piece of paper into her hands. "What's this?" Ginny asked.  
  
"A letter from Harry. I don't know why he wouldn't give it to you himself, but he said that it was really important that I give it to you as soon as possible," Hermione said excitedly. When Ginny just stared at the note in her hand, Hermione grew impatient and urged, "Go on, open it."  
  
Ginny opened the letter carefully, and saw Harry's messy scrawl looping across the paper. As she read her eyes widened.  
  
~  
  
Dearest Ginny,  
  
I can't stand it any longer. I've been pretending for this past week that nothing between us has changed, and yet I can feel in my very soul that everything has. I can't stop thinking about you. You're on my mind every waking moment, and you haunt my very dreams. I can't stop wondering if you feel the same way about me, and I can't stop hoping that you'll come to me and say that you do. I can't stop feeling jealous towards Dean, or my thoughts of how lucky he is to call you his. I can't stop longing for you to be mine. I can't stop the rush I get from just being in the same room as you, from having you near me. But most of all, Ginny, I can't stop loving you, and I'm tired of trying to fight it. Do you feel the same way, could you possibly? If you do, please, Ginny, put an end to my misery and uncertainty, now. I'm waiting for you in the Room of Requirement as you read this, praying that you'll come, that you'll tell me you want me too. Please, Ginny, come. Don't even let me speak, because if I go one second longer then I have to living in this limbo, I might very well go mad.  
  
Yours Forever, Harry  
  
~  
  
Ginny's hand shook as she read the letter over again, still not quite believing that it could be real. This was just such an un-Harry-ish thing for him to do, a little more flowery then she knew him to be. And yet, still, she felt as if she was in a dream, a wonderful dream from which she never wanted to wake up. She looked at Hermione now and smiled at her brilliantly. "I need to go," she said breathlessly, and shot off the couch before Hermione could get a word out edgewise.  
  
Hermione watched her leave, and for the first time felt her conscience start to nag her. Ginny had looked so happy as she read that note, and she would be crushed when she found out that Harry hadn't written it at all, that it had been Hermione with the aid of a forgery charm who had composed the words which had so moved Ginny. But if this went according to plan, then Harry and Ginny would be together anyway. Hermione swallowed her guilt and went to find Ron.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Harry stood outside the Room of Requirement, looking around in confusion. Ron had said to meet him here, that he needed to talk to him about something. Harry hadn't even had to think about the door for it to appear there, and Ron was nowhere to be seen, which was what was leading to Harry's befuddlement. Harry shrugged and opened the door curiously, assuming that Ron was already inside. But the room was empty, and-  
  
Harry looked around in shock. The room looked like it had been set up to host a romantic rendezvous. There was a fire crackling merrily in the hearth, and some romantic music was playing softly, though where it was coming from, Harry couldn't tell. The room was aglow with the light of what had to be a hundred flickering candles, set high in sconces on the walls. Rose petals littered the floor, and their aroma was heavy in the air. There was a couch the size of a small bed, upholstered in rich, soft fabrics, with dozens of pillows and throw blankets scattered over it. Harry left the door open behind him as he walked farther in to the room, looking around cautiously, as if he were expecting someone to jump out from behind the tapestries and yell, "boo!" He was still standing in the middle of the room, thinking how this didn't feel right, scratching his head and wondering if he should keep waiting or not, when he heard approaching footsteps running down the hallway. He looked up to see Ginny rush in, out of breath, her face flushed, and smiling so dazzlingly that she took his breath away.  
  
Ginny stopped and stared at Harry, who was looking very unsure of himself, then closed the door and leaned back against it, still trying to get her breathing under control. After a few moments, Harry opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but before he could Ginny was running towards him, throwing her arms around his neck and scattering kisses all over his face. Harry's arms came up automatically to hold her to him, and she began to speak in a rush of words.  
  
"Oh Harry, Harry! I've dreamt that you would tell me you felt this way, but I had stopped letting myself hope. There've been so many signs that you feel the same way about me as I do about you, but I just couldn't believe that it was possible," she laughed and held him tighter to her, "Harry, I'm so happy, you've made me so happy! Reading that note, it was like a dream come true, you have no idea Harry!"  
  
No, he didn't have any idea, and he was about to ask her what on earth she was talking about when she said, "How can you have any doubt, that the one person in the world who I love more then any other, is you?" She let go of him and stepped back, looking intensely into his eyes.  
  
Harry found himself getting lost in her eyes and forgot everything else she had said, "You love me?" he asked, needing confirmation of what she had just said, yet knowing that he had heard her right. She shook her head yes and laughed, and kissed him with more passion then either of them had known was possible.  
  
Ginny lost herself in the kiss, feeling as if it was not just their mouths that were melding together, but their souls as well. She felt intoxicated by love, felt it drenching her, seeping into her bloodstream and making her limbs heavy with it. She was so weak in the knees that she was sure, had Harry's arms not been around her, holding her tightly against him, she would have fallen heavily to the floor.  
  
They made their way to the couch and Harry sat Ginny down on it, his lips never leaving hers as he leaned over her, one arm bracing himself on the couch as the other cupped her head. She leaned up into him and dragged him down to her, and soon they were laying down, Harry's hands running over her curving, slender body as she pressed him to her. She wanted to be closer, couldn't get close enough, but there were too many clothes between them, keeping them apart. Ginny tore at the offending garments, and soon Harry's shirt was off, and she pushed him away, looking at his firm chest and lean stomach as she fumbled with the buttons to her blouse, needing to feel his skin pressed against hers.  
  
Harry tried to calm his heavy breathing and think clearly, but his mind went blank at the sight of Ginny opening her shirt to him. She wore a lacy, sheer bra and he nearly swallowed his tongue at the sight of her young, pert breasts straining against the see-through material. She lifted her shoulders to help Harry as he wrestled the blouse the rest of the way off her, and her arms were soon free of the encumbering fabric. Ginny pulled him down to kiss her again, and uttered a startled gasp at the feel of his bare stomach coming in contact with hers. She felt the clasp of her bra let go at her back, and Harry was lowering the straps off her shoulders. She stilled, suddenly nervous, and he leaned back, looking into her eyes as he drew the bra the rest of the way off her. For a few seconds, neither of them moved, and then slowly Harry's eyes inched down until they were resting on the perfection he had just revealed. He looked up again and Ginny smiled at him shyly as he reverently lifted his hand to one of her small, perfect breasts, and Ginny moaned his name as his thumb brushed gently over its center. She threw back her head wantonly and arched her back, pushing herself up against him, and he lowered his head to kiss the soft, giving flesh.  
  
"You're so beautiful," he said as he returned his lips to her mouth. He pulled away, however, when he felt her fumbling with the fly on his jeans and he lowered his hand to still hers. She stopped kissing him and looked at him in confusion. He took a deep breath and asked, "Ginny, are you sure?" looking searchingly into her eyes. She hesitated.  
  
Was she sure? Was she ready? Had she been asked this just a week ago, she would have said no, but that was before she had known it was possible to have such desire raging through her. And why should they wait? They were young, yes, but she was so in love with him, had been for so long, that she didn't know how she could handle having to go without him any longer. She looked up at him, into his concerned, questioning emerald eyes, and knew that she didn't have it in her to say no. She took the hand that had stilled hers, brought it to her lips, and looked deep into his eyes, "Please Harry," she whispered, "I want to be with you."  
  
Harry was struggling with himself. He wanted to be with her. No, there was no doubt about that. But there was a voice at the back of his head that was screaming 'She's fifteen! How can you do this and still live with yourself afterward?' Harry stared into her eyes, and neither of them moved as Harry wrestled with his conscience. And as sure as Ginny knew that she couldn't deny him, Harry knew that he couldn't take what she was offering. His conscience won.  
  
"Ginny, we can't do this," he said regretfully and pulled away from her, sitting up on the edge of the couch. It took Ginny a second to understand what he was saying. Harry glanced over at her and saw the hurt look in her eyes. She crossed her arms over her breasts protectively, shielding herself from his view as she reached for her discarded blouse. There was an awkward silence as she buttoned up the front of her shirt. When she was properly covered, she sat stiffly next to Harry as he said, "Ginny, its not that I don't want to, it's just that-"  
  
"No need to explain. I understand perfectly," Ginny spoke in a polite, formal way, and Harry knew that she didn't understand at all. She was smarting at what she believed to be his rejection.  
  
"Well let me explain anyway," Harry said, and took her hand. It felt so much colder then it had before, and he could feel it tensing in his own. "Ginny, we're doing this all wrong. It's too soon. I don't want this to be a mistake that you later regret." She still wouldn't look at him. "Ginny, there's nothing I'd like to do more then take you in my arms and continue where we were heading, but what kind of person would I be if I took advantage of the way you feel about me like that? I care about you more then I can say, and I don't want to do anything to hurt you. You're so young Gin. . .well, we're so young, really, and I want this to happen when the time is right, when we're both thinking clearly and make a conscious decision to move to the next step. Do you understand?"  
  
Ginny took a shaky breath. Harry was right. Everything he had said was absolutely right, "It's just that. . ." her voice trailed off and she blushed.  
  
"What?" Harry asked, and tilted her chin to look at him.  
  
"Nothing," Ginny said. "I just. . .I just hope that you know that I really love you Harry. I'd do anything for you."  
  
Harry pulled her to him for a gentle kiss. "I know," he said, and smiled at her in that particular way of his.  
  
She felt her heart swell, and cleared her throat. She asked half-jokingly, "So, are we a couple now?"  
  
"That all depends," Harry grinned, "are you still seeing Dean?"  
  
"Who?" She asked, making her expression blank, but Harry saw the twinkle in her eye and laughed.  
  
"Then, yeah, I guess we're a couple," he whispered, and kissed her again sweetly on the lips. He could feel the passion building between them once again, and he let her go reluctantly. "Should we leave?"  
  
Ginny shook her head. "No, lets just lay here for a little while. I don't want to leave you yet," she said, and ran a hand lovingly through his messy hair.  
  
"Okay," Harry said, and they settled themselves on the couch, Harry's arm around Ginny, murmuring to each other every once and a while about nothing important, just enjoying the feeling of being together.  
  
Much later, they still lay on the couch. Harry had moved one of the blankets to cover them, and he lay on his back with Ginny cuddled up next to him, her hair spread across his chest where her head lay. He looked down at her and saw that her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow and even in sleep.  
  
Now that his mind wasn't clouded by passion, he thought back to what Ginny had said when she had first come into the room. He frowned. Something just wasn't right. What note had she been talking about? Why had she all of a sudden decided that she wanted to tell him that she loved him? And why had she even come to the room in the first place when he was supposed to meet Ron?  
  
How the HELL had all this happened?  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Thank you, come again(=  
  
Oh, and you know what to do! (hint: 6 letters, starts with r. . .) 


	8. Chapter8

Chapter 8  
  
Okay, here we go:  
  
First of all, why do people keep asking about Dean? I KNOW that I've addressed this, especially in the last chapter. Am I being too subtle? Cause I thought I was being pretty clear. Wait for the next few chapters: Dean's coming back, and term is finally starting, sooo. . .well, you know(=  
  
Evie: I didn't think the review was rude at all and I appreciate the constructive criticism. When I started this I was just aiming for a 10-15 chapter Harry/Ginny piece of fluff. I was tentative to address the Voldemort/Sirius issues, because they require a lot more. . . thought(= But then I say to myself, 'what the hay, I can use a challenge' so now I'm thinking about drawing this out a little more and addressing some of the not-so-fun issues. I wish I could go back and change a few things, give the story a little more depth, but oh well. It's still going to be full of fluff and corniness, though (:  
  
As to the love scene in the last chapter. In the original draft I had Harry and Ginny, um, going all the way, but then I changed it. Why, you ask? Because I think Harry holding back was a greater act of love then the actual act itself, if you know what I mean;) And for some reason, the thought of Harry and Ginny 'getting it on' at such a young age really turned my stomach. So, as enjoyable as a full fledged love scene would have been, I decided to give Harry some moral fiber by having him convince Ginny, whose good judgment was 'clouded by passion' (hehe), to wait.  
  
Jagon: Get over yourself :-p I'm assuming you're referring to Harry and Ginny hooking up. Well, there were 20-something other people who didn't have a problem with it, so if you don't like the way I handled that situation then don't read the story- I really couldn't care less. . .  
  
Sorry the revenge wasn't as evil as some of you might have hoped for. . .uh, I mean, expected(=  
  
Thank you to all my reviewers, especially the faithful ones (you know who you are^_^). Your opinions mean a lot to me.  
  
Please, people, remember that this is my first story! I've been doing this for, what, two weeks now, and I'm trying to be really good with updating(= I've never written anything this long in my life, so be patient with me. I'm posting as soon as I can.  
  
Now go and read yourself silly =D  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ginny sat alone in the library, smiling to herself and twirling her hair dreamily. Her neglected text book sat open in front of her, and try as she might, she couldn't make herself focus on the pages. Thoughts of that morning kept interrupting.  
  
She had woken up groggily, and the feel of a masculine chest under her cheek had at first quite disturbed her. Then the events of the night before had come rushing back, and she had smiled and stretched languorously against him. The movement woke him, and she had picked up her head, crossing her arms on his chest and resting her chin there to watch him wake up. He had opened his eyes and blinked several times, having taken his glasses off some time during the night. He saw her watching him, and smiled at her in a sleepy, very sexy way and said "hello."  
  
Ginny had giggled and covered her nose and mouth with her hand. "Mourning," she said, her eyes smiling, and he had laughed as he covered his own mouth.  
  
"Sleep well?" he asked her, and she had nodded. They just stared at each other for a while, Ginny in a euphoric mood at the thought that she was waking up with Harry, they were a couple, and in love, and soon everyone would know. . .Suddenly her eyes widened.  
  
"Oh no, Hermione and Ron!" She squeaked, sitting up hurriedly, taking her hand away from her mouth and covering her face. "Oh, what are they going to think! They'll know that we slept together! Oh, God!"  
  
"Hey, calm down," Harry said, sitting up lazily and rubbing her back consolingly, "I'm sure they won't just jump to that conclusion without some kind of explanation. We didn't really 'sleep' together, anyway."  
  
"But Hermione gave me your note, and I'm sure she knew that I was running off to meet you," Ginny said, and Harry's eyes had darkened. For a second, he didn't say anything, and though Ginny didn't know it, his suspicions had just been confirmed.  
  
"You let me worry about Ron and Hermione," he said grimly, but grinned at her when he noticed the strange look she was giving him. "You know, you shouldn't be allowed to look so beautiful this early in the morning," he said, and she had smiled as he leaned in to kiss her, but without his glasses his aim was dismal, and he missed her mouth by a few good inches. She had giggled as he continued to search for her lips, scattering light, pecking kisses all over her face, until finally she had caught his head and planted her lips firmly on his, both keeping their mouths tightly closed (morning breath really was a killer).  
  
Thinking back to the carefree mood Harry had been in that morning, Ginny laughed out loud to herself, and then jumped when Harry suddenly sat down next to her and asked, "What's so funny?"  
  
Ginny's face flushed and she kissed him on the cheek, still chuckling to herself slightly, "Nothing."  
  
Harry looked at her somberly, "Gin, if your sitting here laughing at nothing, then I think we have problems."  
  
Ginny laughed harder and rolled her eyes, "Well, if you must know, I was thinking about how adorable you were this morning."  
  
Now she had him blushing. "Adorable, huh? Not incredibly sexy and manly?"  
  
"No, adorable," she smiled and gave him a kiss on the lips. She loved kissing him. It seemed as if he would like to continue, but he looked around to find Madam Pince staring at them disapprovingly from where she was stocking the bookshelves.  
  
"Umm, right then. I was wondering if you'd seen Hermione or Ron today," Harry said, taking her hand and measuring it against his absentmindedly. He had never noticed how small and delicate her hands were before.  
  
"Now that you mention it, I haven't," Ginny frowned. "When I went back to the room this morning, Hermione was already gone. I'm assuming she and Ron went off somewhere together. It surprises me, though; I would have thought she would want an explanation for where we were last night."  
  
"Hmm. . ." Harry looked thoughtful, but didn't tell Ginny what he suspected. He still hadn't told her that he didn't know what note she kept talking about. He had a feeling that it wouldn't go over well. "I'm off to get the Marauder's Map, then."  
  
"The Marauder's Map?" Ginny asked curiously.  
  
"Oh, it's a map of the castle that shows the location of everyone in it. It also shows all the secret passages into Hogwarts," he smiled, "Fred and George gave it to me three years ago. You've seen it, remember? I used it the night we, umm. . ." he looked at her with meaning.  
  
"Had our first kiss," she finished for him, smiling, and he leaned over to kiss her again.  
  
"Ahem!" they jumped apart and looked over to see that the librarian had moved closer, and was shaking her head at them solicitously. Harry smiled and said, "I'm going to leave before I get us in trouble. I'll come find you later and we'll do something, alright?"  
  
"Okay. If you find Hermione, tell her I'd like to talk to her." Harry nodded and kissed her cheek before he left. Ginny watched him go. She felt like an idiot, smiling stupidly after him, but she just couldn't make herself stop.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hiding, are you?" Harry said, making Hermione jump when he walked up behind her.  
  
"Oh, Harry! Don't do that, you scared me half to death!" Hermione turned, but her startled expression quickly turned to one of wariness. "You know, don't you?" she said apprehensively. The question was rhetorical.  
  
"Well, what did you think, Hermione, that she would just not mention this note I supposedly wrote?"  
  
"Umm, yes?" Hermione said, avoiding Harry's glare by turning back to the odd looking plant she was pruning. Harry had tracked her to one of the herbology greenhouses.  
  
"What did the note say, Hermione?" Harry grabbed her shoulder and turned her back to him, not hurting her but not taking any pains to be gentle.  
  
"Watch it, Harry," Hermione warned, and he let her go, but continued to glare at her. She cleared her throat and looked away uncertainly, "Well, I might have written that. . .I can't be entirely sure. . .but I think I might have put somewhere in there that you. . .that you loved her," Hermione got the last out in a rush, and then closed her eyes tightly as she tensed up, seemingly to shield herself from the explosion she believed to be coming.  
  
It came. "You WHAT!" Harry nearly shouted. Hermione cringed. "How could you do this, Hermione! Do you know how hurt she's going to be when she finds out I didn't write that note?"  
  
"You didn't tell her?" Hermione asked, surprised.  
  
Harry looked away a little guiltily. "Well, I was about to say something when she first mentioned it, but then she said she loved me," Hermione smiled, "and things got a little out of hand, if you catch my drift."  
  
Hermione's smile disappeared, and she gasped, "You didn't!"  
  
"No, but it was a close thing!" Harry shouted. Hermione looked a little taken aback by this news, and Harry saw a flash of guilt in her eyes. He sighed. "Look, Hermione, I'm assuming you did this to get back at us-"  
  
"Well, yes, but I didn't want anything bad to happen! I mean, I was mad, but I don't hate you or anything. . ."  
  
"I know. I just wish that you hadn't done this. The first time I said I loved Ginny should have been special, Hermione. It should have been real." Hermione hung her head dejectedly, and seemed to be nearly drowning in guilt. Harry asked, "How did you even know that I loved her, anyway?"  
  
She picked up her head at that. "Well, its completely obvious isn't it? I mean, the way you two act around each other. . .besides," she said defensively, "how did you know that Ron and I were in love before you tricked us into admitting our feelings?"  
  
"Don't even try to compare the two situations, Hermione. You and Ron have been in love for ages. Everyone knew it but the two of you. But I didn't even realize that I could have feelings for Ginny until two weeks ago. You and Ron had plenty of time to figure out that you liked each other, but you weren't getting anywhere. The situation called for outside intervention. Ginny and I never even had a chance to find our own way."  
  
Hermione bit her lip. What Harry said made sense. Why hadn't she thought about all of this before? Usually she was the one with the level head. Being in love with Ron was making her scatterbrained. "Well, you do love her, don't you?"  
  
Harry thought of telling her no, just to make her feel worse, but he couldn't make himself say it. "Yeah," he admitted. Hermione looked very relieved, and her spirits picked back up.  
  
"Well, just tell her that you didn't write the note, she can be properly mad with Ron and me, and then we'll be even and can get on with our happy little lives."  
  
Harry couldn't stop himself from smiling. If only everything were that easy. But then he shook his head, and his smile faded. "You didn't see how happy that thing made her, Hermione. I just can't hurt her like that. And she won't just be mad at you, she'll feel like I betrayed her too, for not telling her immediately that I didn't write the note," Harry rubbed his temple, "as much as I hate keeping this from her, I think that telling her would hurt her more."  
  
"I don't know, Harry, if it were me I'd want to be told," Hermione said doubtfully.  
  
"Yes, well you're no Ginny, are you?" Hermione looked hurt, "That came out the wrong way. All I mean is that you're two completely different people."  
  
"We have more in common then you might think," Hermione said. "And you were right before; you've only really been paying attention to her for two weeks. I've been her friend for four years, and I'm telling you that she would want to know."  
  
"You won't tell her," Harry said forcefully. For a few seconds they butted heads, staring each other down, until finally Hermione sighed and looked away. "Fine," she conceded, "But if she finds out that you were hiding this from her, she's going to be ten times more hurt then if you had just told her yourself. So don't say I didn't warn you."  
  
"Don't you worry about that," Harry said. He looked up when he heard whistling coming from the entrance of the greenhouse, and could see Ron approaching them, the top of his head just visible over a very leafy plant he was holding. "Well, aren't we in a chipper mood this morning?" Harry said as Ron drew closer, and the happy whistling ceased abruptly.  
  
Ron set down the plant and looked at Harry apprehensively. Harry didn't know if he was going to apologize or offer an explanation, but Harry found that either way, he didn't want to hear it. "Never mind, Ron, Hermione's explained everything, and I really don't want to go into this anymore. Let's just drop it, okay?"  
  
Ron looked relieved. "So Ginny isn't mad?" he asked.  
  
Hermione gave him a look, "Harry, here, has decided not to tell Ginny that he didn't write the letter."  
  
Ron raised his eyebrows and turned to Harry, and Harry nodded at him. Ron stared at Harry for a few seconds, and then sighed, "Do you really think that's the best idea? I mean, I really think that Ginny would want to know."  
  
Hermione beamed at him. "I knew that I was dating you for a reason." She then turned to Harry, "Why won't you listen to us? When it comes down to it, both of us know Ginny better then you do, and we're telling you that she would want to know!"  
  
"Look, I don't want to mess this up, okay!" Harry yelled in exasperation, "Almost everything good that happens to me somehow gets screwed up, and I don't want this to be one of those things. If I told her. . .I don't even want to think of how she'd react," he sighed and ran his hand through his messy hair. "I love her, all right? Why can't we just let it be at that?"  
  
Hermione still didn't look convinced, "I already told you that we wouldn't tell her, but I still say you should think twice about this."  
  
"I've been warned," Harry said dryly. "I don't want to talk about this again, understood?"  
  
"Fine with me," Ron said, patting Harry's back roughly. He smiled, "Hurt her and I'll kill you, okay?"  
  
Harry laughed and shook his head, deciding not to answer. He looked around as Hermione turned back to her pruning. "What are you two doing in here, anyway?"  
  
"Professor Sprout cornered us in the Great Hall this morning. She's nervous because the some of the greenhouses aren't ready and the students are coming tomorrow, so she asked us to come help."  
  
"I had forgotten that the Hogwarts Express was arriving tomorrow," Harry said, thinking about who would be coming with it. "I'm going to go find Ginny. Oh, and by the way, she said that she would like to talk to you later, Hermione." Unable to resist the dig at Ron, he added, "I think she wants to explain why she, uh, slept with me last night."  
  
"What do you mean, 'slept with you'," Ron asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.  
  
"Wouldn't you like to know," Harry joked, but jumped back when Ron moved toward him menacingly. "Relax! Nothing happened!" He laughed, but Ron still looked at Harry distrustfully. "I am curious about something though," Harry said when Ron had uncurled his fists. "How did you know the Room of Requirement would just appear to Ginny and me like that, without us even having to think about it?"  
  
"Oh, easy. I just thought of a romantic room that only you and Ginny could find." Hermione said matter of factly.  
  
"Without a bed," Ron added hastily, and Hermione smiled as she nodded.  
  
"Ron was worried that the room would get the wrong idea when I thought of 'romantic'. Of course, since only you and Ginny could find the room, Ron and I didn't get to see it, but I was fairly certain that it would show up for the two of you."  
  
"Well, as usual, you were right," Harry said. "I'll see you two later. Have fun with the, um, plants."  
  
Ron gave him a pained look, but Hermione just said, "Tell Ginny I'll talk to her later." Harry nodded and waved to them as he left, his mind set on spending the afternoon alone with Ginny. He knew that by this time tomorrow, getting Ginny alone would be nearly impossible.  
  
It turned out that he didn't have to look very far. On the way back from the greenhouses, he saw her heading to Hagrid's, her bright hair a beacon against the stark green of the grounds. He called out to her and she turned, and he could just make out her smile as she waved to him.  
  
"Did you talk to them?" she asked anxiously after he reached her, having jogged a good distance towards her.  
  
He nodded and put his arm around her as they made their way toward Hagrid's hut. "I'm telling you not to worry about this. I talked to them and they're fine with the whole situation."  
  
"Even Ron?" She asked, worrying her bottom lip. Harry stopped and turned her toward him, grasping both of her hands in his and bending down slightly so that he was on eye level with her.  
  
"Gin, they're not only fine with this, they're glad we're together," she looked at him uncertainly. "They know how happy you make me," he said, and cupped her cheek tenderly, "Its been so long since I felt this happy. Hell, I don't know if I ever have. They wouldn't do anything to mess this up for us."  
  
Ginny smiled, her eyes shining. "You make me happy too," she whispered, and stood up on tiptoe to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He held her tightly to him, their mouths melting together in a mesh of tongues, teeth and lips, and the sensations were so powerful that Harry felt a great bubble of happiness rising inside him, and he knew that this was the perfect time, the perfect moment to say what both of them knew but he hadn't been able to bring himself to declare to her before. He pulled away and she smiled at him radiantly. He looked into her eyes, "Ginny, I lo-"  
  
"Oi, there! No hanky-panky on school grounds!" Harry and Ginny jumped apart as Hagrid approached them. He was smiling. "So, you're finally together, eh?" he laughed at their surprised expressions.  
  
They both made to ask him what he meant by 'finally', but he just shook his head ruefully. "Always knew tha' you two were goin' tae end up together, I did. An' I was right. Ha!" he slapped his knee and guffawed, "took ya long enough, I'm tellin' ya."  
  
Harry glanced sideways at Ginny, to see that the familiar blush was creeping up her neck to both her cheeks. He took her hand and said, "Yes, well, some things are worth the wait."  
  
Hagrid nodded sagely, then another smile broke over his face. "Where are you two off to, then?"  
  
Ginny spoke up, "I wanted to see if you needed any help getting ready for your classes. Harry ran into me on the way over here."  
  
"Well isn't that nice of ya," Hagrid beamed at her, "Nah, I'm just fine. I was off tae the station, now, anyway. Need tae make sure everything's in place for tomorrow. But you make sure you keep visiting on Saturdays, Ginny, and bring yer new boyfriend with ya."  
  
Ginny giggled, "I'll drag him over, Hagrid. Have you seen Madam Maxime this summer?" she asked slyly, and Harry could tell that she was suppressing a grin.  
  
"Oh, aye! Tae bad she lives so far away, I'd like to see her more often. . ." he got a dreamy, positively dopey look on his face, and Ginny thought he was the cutest thing in the world. Other then Harry, of course. But Harry was a different kind of cute altogether. Hagrid shook himself and said, "Now, I'd best be off. Don't yae forget to come visit once term starts, ya hear me?" he waggled his finger at them.  
  
"We wouldn't dream of it Hagrid," Ginny said, and waved goodbye to him.  
  
As Hagrid left, Harry looked down at Ginny. She sensed him watching her and turned to him, a question in her eyes. Once Hagrid was out of sight, Harry murmured "where were we?" leaned down to kiss her, wanting to regain the moment that had been lost when Hagrid stumbled upon them. But she ducked, giggling, and said, "Now, Mr.Potter, you heard what Hagrid said, there will be no 'hanky-panky' on school grounds." He looked disappointed, but then she whispered in his ear, "We'll have to wait till we're somewhere we wont be caught." He laughed, hugging her, and felt such love welling up inside him, that he was sure he would burst with it. Just as this wave of emotion came over him, he heard a mad sort of laughter, as if from a distance, and he looked up alertly, suddenly ill at ease.  
  
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, sensing the change in him. He looked around, but there was no one about.  
  
"Er, did you just hear someone laughing? I mean, I know I did, but did you hear someone else?" Harry asked, and Ginny shook her head no, looking at him concernedly. Harry ran his hand through his hair, and tried to brush off the eerie sensation that someone was watching. "Never mind, I'm probably just hearing things." He wondered if he was trying to assure Ginny or himself. Ginny still looked a little worried, but nodded, understanding that he didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering him.  
  
"I can't believe that Hagrid just caught us snogging," Ginny said after a while, when they were walking. Harry grinned at her, and Ginny asked, "What were you going to say when he, um, interrupted us before?"  
  
Harry thought about telling her, but the perfect moment had passed. He would wait till another. With Ginny, he was sure there would be plenty. "I'll tell you later," he smiled, and she shrugged and took his hand in hers as they continued toward the castle.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Screaming.  
  
Everywhere around him was an awful screaming. Harry was running through the forbidden forest, but the noise was closing around him from all directions, so he ran ahead blindly, turning as if by instinct, branches slashing at his face, but he didn't feel them. The screaming was getting louder. Louder and louder. He had to hurry.  
  
Suddenly a blinding light lit up the trees ahead of him, and the screaming stopped. Harry tripped, muttering "No no no," as he tried to stumble to his feet, the palms of his hands bloody and stinging as he scrambled towards the clearing ahead of him. He wouldn't get there in time. He was too late, much too late. And then he was there.  
  
His breathing sounded unnaturally loud in the stillness surrounding him, and his eyes focused on the figure of a young woman laying in the middle of the clearing. He called her name, but she didn't respond, didn't move. Panic rose inside his chest as he got closer, and the sound of his pounding heart became all that he could hear.  
  
She had red hair.  
  
Finally he stood above her, and as if by slow motion he reached down to turn her over. He fell onto his knees, doubled over by grief. Her face was drained of all color, her eyes, which had always been so full of life shining up at him, were now vacant pools of brown. He was screaming, sobbing, telling himself that this couldn't be happening. At the same time, he could hear a manic laughter flooding the air around him, and shielding the girl he turned slowly, feeling such hatred and anguish welling up inside him that the terror was secondary as he looked into a pair of snakelike eyes.  
  
Harry woke up suddenly, gasping for breath. The sheets were sweat soaked and tangled around him. Taking a deep breath, he brought his shaking hands up to cover his face. He felt like he was going to be sick.  
  
Voldemort. He hadn't had a dream including Voldemort since leaving school last term. But that wasn't what was chilling his blood, making him tremble as he felt icy terror flooding through his veins.  
  
None of the other dreams had included Ginny.  
  
And with this terrifying thought came another: Voldemort knew. Voldemort knew exactly what Ginny meant to him.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
D-: *gasp* Yes, I know that was sudden, but I'm going for shocking here- I wanted this to be out of the blue(= 


	9. Chapter9

Chapter 9  
  
Hmmm, interesting. . .some mixed reviews about the last chapter :-/ Let me just clear something up: this is not going to be an action/adventure fic, though there will be a little tidbit of that sort of thing, it will have more of a sub-plot feel to it. This story will still be primarily a flangsty romance. And let me assure you that everything will work out in the end! I hate stories that leave me feeling depressed, so I would never do that to you=)  
  
Kurinax: Oops(= forgot about that. Um, yeah, I'm not going to change it, just because it's such a little thing and I'm too lazy. Thanks for pointing it out, though;)  
  
Jigon: Hey, no prob;)  
  
Everyone else: Thank you for the reviews, you guys rock=D  
  
I know it's been a while since I updated, and this isn't the longest chapter I've written, but I've been really busy, so please forgive me(=  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ginny sat across the table from Harry, looking at him worriedly. He had hardly spoken a word to her all day. Every time she tried to engage him in conversation, he would grunt out one-word answers to her questions, if he even spoke to her at all. Several times she had caught him staring at her with a drawn, haunted look on his face. So they were now sitting in an uneasy silence, Harry seemingly lost in his own thoughts, Ginny in hers.  
  
'He looks tired,' Ginny thought. They were sitting in the common room, reading, or pretending to read, in order to kill time before the students arrived and it was time to go down to the Great Hall. Ginny looked at her watch. They still had a few more minutes till they should start heading down. Ron and Hermione, being prefects, had been called down earlier to help with preparations for the arrival of the students. She glanced at Harry and saw that he had raised one of his hands and was running it back and forth across his forehead, his eyes downcast. Ginny was unsure as to whether or not it was just a headache that was bothering him, as he claimed.  
  
Unable to stand the silence any longer, she reached across the table and squeezed his hand gently. "Harry, what's wrong?" she asked softly.  
  
Harry jumped and looked at her as if he was seeing a ghost; in truth, that was how he had seen her since last night. He kept envisioning her in his mind, her face pale and lifeless, and when he looked at her, alive and unhurt, it was as if he were seeing her return from the dead. He cleared his throat and looked away from her, pulling his hand out from under hers. "Nothing."  
  
"Don't give me that, Harry, there's something wrong," she folded her arms and looked at him reprovingly. "Why won't you talk to me?"  
  
Harry ran his hand through his hair roughly, "Really, Ginny, please lets just not do this right now."  
  
"Well, if not now, then when, Harry?" she asked, growing annoyed. "What happened last night? You came downstairs this morning and it was like you were a different person. What's wrong with you?"  
  
"I already told you, Gin, I have a headache. Can you please just leave me alone? You've been bugging me about it all day. I'm getting sick of it," he said harshly. He glanced at her, saw the hurt look on her face, and immediately felt like a twat. He turned back to his book, sighing heavily.  
  
Ginny's hurt quickly turned to anger. She hated when he got like this. Withdrawn, lashing out at everyone around him. He had spent much of the last year in this state, and it had always irritated her, just a bit. She had believed that he had gotten over this 'phase' during the summer, when he had come back to Hogwarts and been almost carefree, showing no signs of the angst filled teenager he had been a few months before. But then he had come down the stairs this morning, surly and closed off from everyone around him, and Ginny had felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach ever since.  
  
But right now she was just plain mad. "You know what Harry? Fine. Sorry for caring," she said and stood up, banging her chair back up against the table angrily. He looked up as she moved toward the portrait hole, and she turned just before going through it, "You can really be a self absorbed ass sometimes, you know that?" she got out through her gritted teeth, before disappearing from sight.  
  
"Ginny, wait a sec-" Harry called after her, but stopped when he heard the portrait close shut. He put his face in his hands and groaned in frustration. He did NOT need this right now. He didn't get up to follow her, but sat there brooding. She'd be a little irritable too if she had images of dead loved ones flashing inside her head.  
  
He didn't know why the dream had come as such a shock to him. He should have expected it. It was just that, over the summer, his scar hadn't even twinged, and he had been lulled into almost a relaxed state. Then he had returned here and been so busy, well, falling in love with Ginny, really, that thoughts of Voldemort had had little time to intrude upon his mind. With his scar still aching from last night, he had been able to think of little else all day.  
  
He sighed and rested his forehead on his folded arms. Damn, he owed her an apology. None of this was her fault. She showed a little concern and he basically told her to fuck-off. Harry shook his head in self-deprecation. He sometimes astounded himself with how much of an ass he could really be. He got up slowly, resigned to finding Ginny and giving her an apology, something he was not looking forward to.  
  
Walking down the stairs, he could hear a great mass off noise coming from below. He glanced at his watch and was startled to discover that he should have arrived downstairs ten minutes ago. He cursed and practically ran the rest of the way to the Hall.  
  
It was too much to hope that his late arrival would go unnoticed. Only the first years had yet to arrive, and many people looked up when he entered, expecting the newcomers at any moment. He hesitated as much of the conversation in the hall died to almost nothing, and then started up again with a renewed fervor. He scanned the Gryffindor table quickly, looking for a certain redhead, and spotting her, he walked resolutely toward her, his head down so as to avoid the curious stares. Some people called out to him, but he only nodded toward them absently, not even bothering to look up and see who it was. When he made it to where she sat, he noticed that, although she didn't acknowledge him, she had saved him a seat next to her, which was promising.  
  
"Where've you been?" Ron asked. He sat across from Harry, Hermione at his side. Harry looked around and saw Dean sitting a few seats down from them. He was laughing at something Seamus was saying, but caught Harry looking his way and gave a friendly wave. Harry waved back reluctantly and nodded, subconsciously moving closer toward Ginny. He didn't notice the narrowing of Dean's eyes because he had turned back to Ron.  
  
"Lost track of time," he mumbled, and stole a side-glance at Ginny. She had her arms crossed in front of her and refused to look at him when he nudged her side gently with his elbow. He tried again, rubbing his foot up against hers under the table. She kicked his shin, hard, and he took in a deep breath of air to keep himself from yelping out loud in pain. He noticed Ginny was trying very hard not to smile at this as he rubbed his shin unobtrusively under the table and glared at her. Fine. She didn't want to hear what he had to say, well that was just fine. He could take a hint.  
  
Ginny didn't regret kicking Harry's shin at all. The prat deserved it. She looked down the table at Dean when she noticed that he was trying to catch her eye. He mouthed something like 'I'll talk to you later,' and she nodded, doing her best to smile at him. Poor bloke. She really did like him, but she didn't want to lead him on. She would break up with him tonight, before he found out from someone else that she was now seeing Harry.  
  
That was, she was seeing Harry unless he continued to act like a complete toad. She looked at him finally and found him staring at the tablecloth broodingly. He looked up when he felt her gaze on him, and stared at her stoically, his face devoid of emotion. 'Oh, go ahead and just shut everyone out,' she thought angrily. She was just so fed up with his behavior that day, so bursting with annoyance, that she had to do something. She made a face and stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
At first Harry stared at her blankly. Then the corner of his mouth started to tick up as laughter overcame him. After several moments, Ron and Hermione, not having caught Ginny's lapse back into childhood, looked at Harry as if he had gone demented. "Are you daft!" Ron said in a harsh whisper, "Stop it, people are starting to stare."  
  
Harry forced himself to stop laughing and looked around to find that Ron was right, an awful lot of people were looking his way. Several were nodding their heads regretfully and looking pointedly at their neighbors, as if to say, 'Yup, Potter's finally fallen off his rocker. Knew it would happen sooner or later.' He looked at Ginny to find that her cheeks had pinkened slightly, and she was also suppressing a smile. Now that he finally had her looking at him without that heated, angry look in her eyes, he grasped her hand in his under the table, and his expression became serious. "I'm sorry," he whispered simply, sincerely, and Ginny's heart softened. Just when she was about to respond, there was a commotion by the doors, and a large group of very small people, led by McGonagall, entered the room. So Ginny just nodded and squeezed his hand, but he understood, and interlaced his fingers with hers as the sorting started.  
  
The sorting hat's song, though entertaining, said nothing that Harry didn't already know. He sat through it with what could best be described as polite disinterest, and his eye wandered along the staff table. He noticed that he was not the only one whose attention was waning.  
  
While most of the professors and staff were focused on the hat or the group of nervous children in front of them, Snape was looking down the table with a look that Harry found he could not quite describe. Simply calling it hatred wasn't enough to express the intense loathing and abhorrence that was written there. And as often as he had been on the receiving end of Snape's hate-filled gazes, Harry had a feeling that they weren't even close to this.  
  
Harry followed Snape's stare to the center of the staff table, where, on Dumbledore's right, sat a woman that Harry didn't recognize. She looked to be in her early forties, though there were some streaks of gray hair framing a very handsome face. The rest of her hair was a dark brown, and it appeared to fall past her waist. She held herself ramrod straight, her chin held at a haughty, proud angle, her hands folded gracefully under her chin as she listened attentively. As he watched, she lifted one of her hands to tuck her hair behind her ear, and Harry suddenly felt as if he should know her from somewhere. He stared at her, trying to remember something, but what he didn't know. Had he seen her before? Where?  
  
He didn't know why, maybe because he was focusing on her so intently, but she looked up suddenly, and he saw her eyes widen almost imperceptibly when they rested on him. For a second they held each other's stares and then she turned her attention back to the proceedings. The nagging feeling that he had seen her before wouldn't go away, and he didn't realize that the sorting hat's song was over until Ginny shook his hand off hers so that she could applaud with everyone else.  
  
Harry tried to pay attention to the sorting, but he kept glancing back at the woman. Who was she? Of course, he knew why she was there; being the only new person at the head table, and the target of Snape's animosity, there was little doubt in Harry's mind that she was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  
  
After about twenty minutes the sorting was finished, and it was finally time to eat. Harry could hear Ron's stomach growling from across the table, and he grinned when Hermione lowered her eyebrows at Ron. Ron shrugged his shoulders and whispered something like, "I can't help it, has a mind of its own."  
  
The tables were soon creaking under tons of lavishly prepared food, and now that conversation was allowed, Harry asked, "Does anyone know who that woman is sitting next to Dumbledore?"  
  
The other three looked at the head table, but they all shook their heads, and Hermione said, "Well, she's obviously the new Defense teacher, but I've never seen her before."  
  
"As long as she isn't anything like Umbrige, I don't care where she's from," Ron said, and Ginny nodded.  
  
"I don't think its possible to get any worse then Umbrige, though. I hope she rots in St. Mungo's, awful woman," Ginny frowned, and shivered in disgust. Harry normally would have been surprised to hear her speak so venomously about anyone, but in this case it was well deserved.  
  
"I just have this strange feeling I should know her from somewhere. . ." Harry muttered.  
  
Ginny looked at him curiously, "Well, I'm sure we'll find out who she is when Dumbledore gives his start of term speech," she said, and then they turned to other subjects. Harry looked around the hall and waved periodically to people he knew. He spotted Cho sitting with Michael Corner at the Ravenclaw table, and grew a little nauseous at the sight of them fawning over each other. It wasn't that he was in any way jealous, it was just that. . .ugh, that could have been him! He thought back to how blinded he had been by Cho, and silently wondered what he had been thinking. Sure, she was a nice girl, and pretty, but there was nothing really. . .special about her. Not like Ginny. He looked down at her as she laughed at something Hermione said. He loved it when she laughed like that, her whole face lit up with amusement. He suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her. He leaned in, and was surprised when she pushed him away, no longer laughing. "Harry, there are people here!" she whispered, looking around nervously, afraid that someone might have caught the exchange between the two of them.  
  
"So?" Harry asked, smiling down at her mischievously.  
  
"Sooo, I'd prefer to do that sort of thing in private, thank you, without my brother sitting right across the table from me. And even if I did want to, I haven't broken up with Dean yet, and I would rather that he didn't find out like this."  
  
Harry's smile abruptly faded, "When ARE you going to break up with Dean, anyway?"  
  
"Oh, stop. I haven't even had a chance to talk to him at all yet. I'm going to do it tonight," Ginny said, looking towards Dean worriedly.  
  
Harry felt uneasy all of a sudden. To keep himself from staring at Dean malevolently, he looked over at the Slytherin table and spotted Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. He looked sullen and didn't appear to be speaking to anyone. Harry supposed that Malfoy's bad mood was largely because of the fact that his father was still in Azkaban. Harry grinned, and his spirits lifted considerably knowing that he had contributed in some way to Malfoy's depression.  
  
The hall was quieting swiftly, and Harry looked to the front of the room to see that Dumbledore had stood and was raising his hands for silence, waiting patiently. "Very good, very good," he said, when the hall was finally silent, "I believe that it is now time to get the niceties out of the way. First, a usual reminder that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds for all students. Magic is not allowed outside the classroom, and any clubs," Harry could swear that Dumbledore looked straight at him, "or 'gatherings' must have permission from their head of House or myself before they continue with any such unauthorized activities. I assure you, permission will likely be granted gladly," Dombledore was definitely looking at him. "Let me see. Oh, yes, Quidditch tryouts will be held this Friday, the 6th. And now that's over with," Dumbledore finished, "I would like to introduce Professor Fiore," he inclined his head towards the woman sitting next to him, "who has kindly taken time off from the ministry to join our staff as Hogwart's new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I have no doubt that she will be treated with as much respect as she deserves." There was some polite clapping, and Professor Fiore nodded and smiled, until it had died down. Harry felt disappointed. He had hoped that the woman's name would strike a chord with him, but was sure that he had never heard it before. "Thank you all for waiting so patiently, you are now excused. First years make sure to follow the prefects to your dormitories."  
  
As the rest of the Hall began to leave their tables, Hermione could be heard yelling, "first years! Over here, please," and she and Ron stood waiting for the group to gather in front of them. Harry and Ginny, not having to stay behind, got up together and made their way toward the door. They were almost there when Harry heard a familiar voice say, "Mr. Potter!" and he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. It was McGonagall.  
  
"Potter, I would like to see you in my office in five minutes or so, if you don't mind." Harry wasn't exactly sure why she added the last bit. Like he was going to say no.  
  
"Yes Professor," Harry said, scanning his mind and trying to remember if he had done anything wrong lately. She hadn't found out about them locking Ron and Hermione in the Astronomy Tower, had she? Harry felt sick at the thought.  
  
McGonagall nodded and hurried away, trying to rush stragglers off to their dorms. Ginny looked at him, "What is that all about?" she asked.  
  
"Don't know," Harry said, looking worried, "You don't think she knows about what we did to Ron and Hermione, do you?"  
  
Ginny shook her head, "No, she would have asked me to come to her office, too. And she didn't really seem angry."  
  
"I didn't think so either. Well, I guess I'll just meet you back in the commons, then. I'll just head to her office now, no point in walking back to the rooms."  
  
"All right," Ginny said, and looking around quickly to make sure no one was looking, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before smiling at him and running off in the other direction.  
  
Harry entered Professor McGonagall's office a few minutes later. She sat at her desk and looked up when he knocked on the frame of her open door. "Oh, yes, Potter. Please come in," she said, and got up to look in some cabinets behind her desk. He walked further into the room as she pulled a paper out of the drawers and turned back to him. "There seems to have been a mistake. This should have been sent to you with your Hogwarts letter," she explained as she handed the letter to him.  
  
He skimmed over the paper once and then read through it carefully, "This says I've been made Quidditch captain," he said in disbelief, and looked up at McGonagall for confirmation.  
  
"Well, I should hope that's what it says, as that's what I've called you here to talk about," McGonagall said, smiling slightly. Then her expression became more stern, "Do not take this job lightly, Potter. You will be responsible for the success, or failure, of the Gryffindor team. You have two chasers that you need to replace, and it will be your duty to organize all practices and manage the team. Remember that you and Ms. Bell are the only people who have been on the team for more then a year," Harry paled slightly at this realization, and McGonagall looked at him kindly as she said, "However, I have every confidence that you will not let this be an excuse to lose. Here is a schedule of times the pitch has been booked for Gryffindor, along with the time you have been allotted to hold tryouts," she handed him another sheet of paper. "Now, unless you have any questions, you are excused, Potter," she said, as she sat back down at her desk.  
  
"No, I'm good Professor. Thanks," he said as he backed out of the room, and couldn't keep the smile off his face. McGonagall nodded at him, and smiled slightly as she watched him go.  
  
Harry couldn't stem his excitement. He should have known that he would be made captain, really. Who else could have been, other then Katie, who had told him last year that she wouldn't accept the captaincy even if it was offered to her. He just hadn't thought about it. He headed back to the common room, thoughts of Quidditch dancing merrily through his head. He needed to tell someone, and the first person he wanted to share the news with was Ginny.  
  
He was turning the corner when he heard her voice. His smile widened. She must be waiting for him in the hall. But then he heard another deeper, more masculine voice, and his smile faltered. He slowed and tried to make out what they were saying, but they were too far away. Then they came into sight, and Harry stopped walking altogether.  
  
He came upon them at the worst possible moment. He didn't know it, but had he seen the kiss from any other angle it wouldn't look so damning. He would have seen that Ginny's eyes were wide in shock and that she was pressing her lips tightly closed. He would have also seen that she had wedged her hands between them and was pushing at Dean's chest futilely, and that his hand was holding her head still as she tried to pull away. But seeing the kiss as he did, with Ginny's back to him, Harry didn't see that. It appeared to him that Ginny was as involved in the kiss as Dean was, and he felt everything go still inside of him. The parchment he had been holding was crushed in his fist as he stemmed the urge to go beat the crap out of Dean. Against his will, he started to approach them. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said coldly.  
  
Dean let go of Ginny and she pushed him away from her quickly, wiping the back of her hand over her mouth. She turned to Harry, looking relieved. Then she saw the expression on his face, and realizing what he must be thinking she ran to him and put her hands on his chest entreatingly. "Wait, Harry, it's not what you think-"  
  
"Really," he sneered, throwing her hands off him. "Forgive me if I find that hard to believe," he looked at her lips, swollen from Dean's kisses, and knew he needed to get away before he hurt someone, possibly her. He shouted the password curtly at the Fat Lady, and quickly disappeared into the common room.  
  
"Harry, please listen-" she called after him, but the portrait had swung shut in her face. She stomped her foot on the ground in aggravation and turned to Dean, who was standing where she had pushed him, looking a little guilty. Not saying anything, she walked straight to him, and slapped him sharply across the face. He looked angry, but when he opened his mouth to protest, she pointed her finger in front of his face and said, her voice quaking with fury, "Don't you ever touch me again. Ever." She then turned on her heel and followed Harry into the common room.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Next chapter coming soon. . .and please forgive my Dumbledore, I had trouble writing him for some reason. (=  
  
Oh, and if you want to know how to pronounce Fiore, just think Italian;) 


	10. Chapter10

Chapter 10  
  
More A/N for those of you who actually read them:  
  
Yes, Fiore is an OC. All will be explained, be patient;)  
  
TJ131: Why are you apologizing?? I ain't mad at'cha =D  
  
Thank you to all my wonderful, wonderful reviewers. You guys are the bestest =D I wish I could go through and thank everyone individually for taking the time to review my fic, but there are so many of you beautiful people, it would take waaay too long. I luv you guys, keep reading! ;)  
  
Sorry I didn't update sooner, but life's been crazy, and this was probably the hardest chapter to write so far, so it took me a little longer then usual. Hope I didn't do too bad a job of it(=  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Harry slammed up the stairs to the boys' dorms, fuming, trying to get a hold of his rage. How could she? He stopped just short of the door to his room and forced himself to breath, leaning his forehead against the cold stone wall and closing his eyes. But the image of Ginny passionately kissing Dean seemed to be etched onto the insides of his eyelids, so he opened them and stared sightlessly ahead.  
  
He just didn't understand. Why would she do something like this? He had apologized for the way he had acted earlier, and they had been okay when she left. She had even kissed him goodbye just a short while ago. He was supposed to be the only one she was kissing; she wasn't supposed to be letting Dean Thomas feel her up in the hallway. Hell, she was supposed to be breaking up with Dean, she had said she was going to. She had a funny way of going about it, didn't she?  
  
He turned and walked the rest of the way into the room, deep in thought. He looked up when he heard someone give an excited "whoop" and turned just in time to brace himself before Neville launched himself at him.  
  
"An E Harry! Can you believe it! An E in Defense! And I thought I wasn't even going to pass! I wouldn't of if it weren't for the DA meetings; boy do I owe you, Harry! You should have seen Gran, she looked like she was going to cry! Said that I was finally starting to live up to the family name. . ." Neville's voice died down when he saw the forced smile Harry was giving him. Neville backed away from Harry, and glanced over at Ron uneasily as he cleared his throat. Ron appeared just as puzzled by Harry's starchiness. Neville looked back at Harry and shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "So, uh, have a good summer, Harry?"  
  
"Yeah," Harry got out around his stiff smile. "That's really great about your OWL, Neville," he said and moved over to his trunk, jerking out his nightclothes. "Really. Great."  
  
"Thanks," Neville said, and started to edge out of the room, "Well, I'll, um, be back soon. Yeah, I have to, er. . .I'll be back soon," he rushed out the door. Harry knew that Neville didn't want to be in the room while Harry's temper was so obviously close to the surface, but Harry didn't care. In fact, he would be thrilled if Ron would leave, too, so he could have some time to himself. He wasn't sure he would be able to hold his temper with anyone right now.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked, removing his prefect badge and tossing it on his nightstand. "I think you just scared Neville away."  
  
Harry glared at Ron, "I don't want to talk about it."  
  
Ron looked surprised at how defensive Harry was being, "Does it have something to do with your meeting with McGonagall?"  
  
Harry was about to give a curt no, when he paused. "How did you know about that?"  
  
"Ginny told me. I saw her in the hallway, she said she was waiting for you to get back. Did you see her?"  
  
Harry's stomach tightened at the mention of Ginny's name. "Oh yeah. I saw her all right," he muttered, and winced when he felt a sting on his palms. He had been clenching his hands so tightly that his nails had left permanent indents on them.  
  
"Well, what did McGonagall say, then?" Ron asked, not quite comprehending just how upset Harry was.  
  
Harry turned his back on Ron as he pulled off his robes and threw them aside irritably, then began to unbutton his shirt. "I've been made Quidditch Captain," he said dully.  
  
"That's excellent, Harry!" Ron said, looking over as Harry pulled his nightshirt over his head. When Harry just shrugged, Ron's smile faded. "Then what's wrong? If it were me I'd be running mad through the halls, screaming it at the top of my lungs. What's got you so pissed?"  
  
Harry thought of telling Ron about what he had just seen, but only for a second. It wasn't really Ron's business. He did say, however, "Ginny and I are over."  
  
"What!" Ron asked, sitting up quickly. "What the hell? That was the shortest relationship I've ever seen! You two were fine a little while ago."  
  
"Yeah, well, a lot's happened since then," Harry snarled. Like Ginny fooling around with Dean. 'Why would she do this?' he thought yet again. Maybe she had done it to get back at him for his behavior that day. She had known that he would be coming that way any minute, hadn't she? He had thought that she was better then that kind of vindictive behavior. But he had also thought she was in love with him. Fat lot he knew. She wouldn't be kissing someone else if she was.  
  
"What did you do?" Ron asked, looking at him suspiciously.  
  
Outside in the hallway, Ginny stopped and held her breath. She had been about to rush into the room, and berate Harry for not trusting her enough to at least let her explain, when she heard Harry respond, "Why do you automatically assume it was me who messed it up?" There was little doubt in her mind who they were talking about.  
  
"Well, it's clear that she's in love with you, especially after the other night." Ginny blushed. Was she that obvious? There was a pause in the other room, and then she heard Ron say, "She didn't find out that you were lying about writing the note, did she? That you were keeping it from her that Hermione wrote it and not you?"  
  
Ginny's brow furrowed in confusion. What was Ron talking about? Harry had written that. . . "I told you I wasn't going to tell her that, so unless you or Hermione said something, she doesn't know."  
  
Ginny felt all the breath leave her body in a rush, and she stared at the open doorway in disbelief, lifting her hand to her chest where it felt as if her heart had stopped, and then started beating again with a renewed force. She couldn't have heard him right. He hadn't written. . .but he had acted like. . .Ron spoke up again, "That still doesn't sit well with me. Are you sure you won't consider telling her the truth? I mean, if she really cares about you, and you just tell her that you did it because you didn't want to hurt-"  
  
"Well you know what?" Harry exploded, "She made it abundantly clear that she doesn't care about me! If she did, I wouldn't have just caught her snogging Dean in the hallway! But it doesn't even matter, because I don't care what the hell she does, or who she does it with! I don't, damn it! She can snog Dean until she's blue in the face, because we're done, and there's nothing she can say to change what she did!" Ginny could actually feel the blood draining from her face. How could he talk about her like that?  
  
"Are you sure that there isn't some sort of explanation?" Ginny could hear the doubt in Ron's voice, "I mean that doesn't seem like something she would do. . ."  
  
"Well, believe it. And what the hell kind of explanation would there be for that, Ron, huh? Because I'd really like to know. Really, I would."  
  
Ginny stood paralyzed in the hall. Too many thoughts were running through her head. She needed to get away, needed to be alone with her thoughts, to breath. She turned and almost screamed when she bumped into Neville, who said, loudly, "Sorry Ginny! What are you doing out here?"  
  
Ginny heard everything go still in the other room, and then two sets of footsteps making their way to the door. She panicked and tried to get past Neville, but tripped and he caught her around the waist, surprised at the way she was acting. She turned towards the door and gulped as first Ron, and then Harry appeared in the hallway. There were a few moments of tense silence. Ron looked between Ginny and Harry, and immediately knew that he didn't want to be present for this argument. Harry's eyes were narrowing as he realized that Ginny had been standing there, eavesdropping on his conversation with Ron. Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but it seemed as if her throat had closed up completely, and no sound came out. Ron walked between the two and grabbed Neville by the shoulder, leading him down the stairs. Ginny grabbed at his sleeve as he passed and looked up at him pleadingly. She didn't want to be left alone with Harry right now, but Ron only gave her a sympathetic look, and whispered, "Just settle this now," before leading a confused Neville the rest of the way down the stairs.  
  
When they were gone, Ginny was unable to make herself look at Harry, and she fidgeted with the cuff on the sleeve of her robes nervously. Harry crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame, staring at Ginny coldly. "What do you want?"  
  
Ginny looked up quickly, but then looked away when she saw the frigid stare he was giving her. "I just. . .I came up to explain. . .and I just, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but. . .you left without letting me. . .and then I heard. . ." she stopped herself from rambling. She wasn't making any sense and she knew it. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and finally forced herself to look at Harry, and said the first thing that came to her mind. "You didn't write that letter to me, did you?" She asked quietly.  
  
Harry didn't say anything for a moment, just stood there and looked at her blankly. Then he straightened and turned to walk into the room, giving her his back, "So, you heard that?"  
  
Ginny hesitated a moment before following him, stepping cautiously into the room behind him. "Why did you lie to me?" she asked hesitantly, and he turned back around to face her, a haze of anger darkening his eyes.  
  
"Why were you snogging Dean in the hallway?" he asked defensively. "Or do I even have to ask?" he sneered, looking her over in disgust.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, having a feeling that she wouldn't like his answer.  
  
"Well you obviously take it wherever you can get it, don't you? You're all over me like a bitch in heat while I'm the only male around, but then Dean's back and within two hours you're already jumping him!"  
  
Ginny couldn't contain her hurt, and she felt her chest tighten, "How could you say something like that? How could you even think it?"  
  
"Well, what am I supposed to think Ginny?" he asked, and when she just stared at him, he ordered, "Tell me dammit!" advancing on her.  
  
Ginny took a step back, actually scared of him for the first time in her life. But she strengthened her resolve and stood her ground as he drew closer. "Tell me why you lied to me first! Why did Hermione write that note and not you?"  
  
"After the way you've acted, I don't owe you any explanations," he spat at her and her eyes clouded with anger.  
  
"How dare you be so judgmental? You don't even give me a chance to explain, you just assume! I come up here to tell you what really happened, and not only do I find you already mouthing off to Ron about me, but discover that the whole reason we're together is a lie!"  
  
"Well, its not like we're really 'together' is it? I mean, you obviously decided that we shouldn't be exclusive. How long were you going to lead me on, huh? Did you need time to decide which one of us you really wanted, or do you get some kind of twisted kick from playing two guys against each other?"  
  
Ginny felt her own ire begin to rise. "If you really knew me, you wouldn't think that."  
  
"Well, fine then, Ginny, explain it to me," he said, grabbing her arms and pulling her face to within inches of hers, "Explain to me exactly how you came to be making out with Dean in the hallway when you knew I would be coming back any minute. Were you trying to make me jealous? Tell me, Ginny, and if I don't think you're convincing enough, we're done. But then again, how will I know if I should believe you? You're such a terrific little actress after all; you have everyone around you convinced that you're the sweet little innocent. So go on, Ginny, try to convince me," he dared, his fingers digging painfully into her arms.  
  
Ginny felt her heart harden. Who did he think he was, intimidating her like this? Her eyes shot daggers at him as she said, "You're so good at jumping to conclusions, believe what you want. After the way you've acted, I don't owe you any explanations!" She said, throwing his words back in his face.  
  
"Well, I guess we're clear on where we stand then, aren't we?" he said with finality. But he needed to hurt her. Hurt her like he was hurting. "I just wish you had been clear that you weren't serious about us. I mean, the innocent virgin act really wasn't necessary, Gin. If I had known that all you were interested in the other night was a quick lay, I would have been happy to. . .help you out," he smirked, raking his eyes over her insultingly.  
  
Ginny gasped and covered her mouth. Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked at him, her hurt evident. She couldn't take any more of this. She shook her head and backed away from him, then turned and ran from the room without saying another word.  
  
With Ginny gone, Harry dropped the angry façade and let the hurt course through him. He sat down on his bed and rested his elbows on his raised knees, his head in his hands. When she had looked at him, her eyes glazed with pain, he had had to restrain himself from running after her and begging her to forgive him for every awful thing he had just said. But she had done this. He had given her a chance to explain, and she had refused to say anything.  
  
And to make matters worse, his scar was beginning to throb again.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Ginny ran back to her dormitory, her vision clouded by tears she refused to cry yet she wasn't quite able to suppress. She was about to rush into her room when she heard the giggling chatter of the other girls from her year wafting through the doorway, and she stopped herself from rushing in. She couldn't let anyone see her right now. She was afraid that if she did, she might just break down and cry. She looked up when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs towards her, and started back down the stairs to avoid whoever it was when she heard the person calling down to her. "Ginny! Wait, I've been looking for you, I wanted to ask you. . ." Hermione's voice faded away to nothing. Ginny had turned around and it only took one look at her face for Hermione to know that something was horribly wrong. "My goodness, Ginny, what happened?" she gasped, rushing down the rest of the stairs and hugging her as Ginny finally let go of a sob she had been trying desperately hard to contain.  
  
"Oh, Hermione," she said, leaning her head against Hermione's shoulder as she finally let the tears go, "He said such awful things. I just can't believe the things he said to me, it was horrible!" she sobbed, her tears soaking the robes on Hermione's shoulder, but as hard as she tried she couldn't make them stop.  
  
"Shush, Ginny, it's okay," Hermione said. She could hear more people approaching from upstairs, and she thought frantically for somewhere she could take Ginny without people walking in on them. She had a feeling Ginny didn't want anyone to see her like this. "Come with me," she said, taking Ginny by the elbow to lead her down the stairs. When they walked through the common room Ginny ducked her head and let her hair fall to curtain her tear-streaked face from the curious stairs of some third years. Hermione led her out into the hall and down several different corridors, and Ginny barely noticed when they had stopped and Hermione was whispering a password to a large statue, which jumped aside to reveal a door that Hermione ushered Ginny through after peering in hastily to make sure that the room was unoccupied.  
  
Ginny walked in and looked around in confusion, "Why are we in the loo?" she asked, wiping at her eyes as she sniffled.  
  
"Well, the prefect's loo, actually," Hermione said, locking the door behind her, "it's the only place I could think of where we could talk without people walking in on us." Hermione walked over to Ginny and led her to a bench by the wall, which was surrounded by several strange looking lockers. Ginny sat down, and took a deep breath, finally feeling as if she had gotten her tears under control. Hermione looked at her somberly, "Okay, Ginny, tell me what's going on."  
  
Ginny stared vacantly ahead for a second. Where should she begin? She took a deep breath. "Well, I guess the best place to begin is right after I left the Hall to go upstairs. McGonagall wanted to see Harry in her office, and I went back up to the commons alone. . ."  
  
~ ~ flashback ~ ~  
  
Ginny stood outside the commons, arms folded as she waited patiently. Harry had looked so worried when she had left him, she had decided to wait for him until he came back to see what McGonagall had wanted. She saw a large group of people coming around the corner, and waved at Ron and Hermione who were leading the first years to the dorms.  
  
"What are you doing, Gin?" Ron asked, hanging behind to let the first years pass through into the commons before him.  
  
"McGonagall wanted to see Harry in her office. I'm waiting for him to get back," she said, smiling at several of the first years as they passed. It amazed her that she had once been that small, and she thought back to the child she had been such a short while ago. She had changed so much since then.  
  
"Nothing serious, I hope?" Ron asked.  
  
"No, I don't think she was angry. I am anxious to find out what she wanted to see him for, though."  
  
Ron nodded as the last first year disappeared into the common room. "Well, I better go. I'll see you later."  
  
"Bye," Ginny said and watched him leave. After about five more minutes, she was thinking about waiting for Harry in the common room, though she had really hoped to have a moment alone with him. She began to pace, staring at the floor. Finally she turned to go, when she felt a set of masculine arms circle her from behind. She stopped and smiled saying "How'd it go," as she leaned back against him, but immediately straightened up. Something wasn't right; that wasn't Harry's chest. . .  
  
"How did what go?" Dean asked, smiling down at her as she turned to face him.  
  
"Oh, Dean! I thought you were someone else," she said without thinking, then felt as if she could smack herself. His eyes narrowed.  
  
"Who exactly did you think I was," he asked suspiciously.  
  
"Never mind that," she said evasively, smiling at him uneasily. "Dean, I need to talk to you about something-"  
  
"Because unless you're dating someone else, I don't know who would be putting their arms around you like that other then me."  
  
"Well, that's interesting you should bring up me seeing someone else, because actually-"  
  
"You thought I was Harry, didn't you?" he asked tersely. "I saw the two of you earlier, the way you kept looking at each other."  
  
"Dean, please, I didn't want you to find out like this, but-"  
  
"So I'm right," he said sadly, interrupting her again. She took a deep breath.  
  
"Well, yes," she said, as kindly as she could, touching his arm consolingly. "Look, Dean, I don't know exactly how to explain this. I've been in love with him since I met him five years ago. And, I don't know, sometime during these last two weeks, something just clicked with us. I didn't want to hurt you Dean, really I didn't, but I can't keep seeing you when my heart isn't in it."  
  
"You're breaking up with me?" he asked in disbelief.  
  
"Yes. Yes I am."  
  
"Well, don't you think this is a little sudden? I mean, we're fine at the end of term, and you don't give me any indication that anything's wrong over the summer, and then you all of a sudden decide that you want to break up the first day back!"  
  
"But this isn't all of a sudden, not really," she reasoned. "You don't understand how it is with Harry and me. We're really in love, Dean."  
  
"Yeah, right. So just because you've had a crush on Potter, and he's finally showing some interest, you won't even give us a chance?"  
  
"It's not just a crush," she said, a little defensively, since the accusation touched on one of her insecurities. "Please don't do this, Dean. I really like you, and I had hoped that we could still be friends. Don't make this difficult."  
  
"What can I do to make you reconsider this, Ginny?"  
  
"Nothing, Dean. My mind's already made up," Ginny said quietly, and was surprised when he looked at her maliciously.  
  
"Maybe I just wasn't aggressive enough for you," he said bitterly, and grabbed her by the arms. She didn't even have time to register what was happening before he was kissing her, hard, holding her still as she tried to get away. She was getting ready to panic, but then she heard Harry's voice, "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."  
  
She turned around, relief rushing through her, but it quickly turned to dread as she saw Harry's stony expression. . .  
  
~ ~ end flashback ~ ~  
  
". . .and then he just left, just ran away from me," Ginny said, but her eyes were dry. She almost felt numb.  
  
"Well he must have been pretty upset. But he really should have listened to what you had to say," Hermione said sympathetically.  
  
"Oh, you haven't even heard the worst of it," Ginny said, picking at some of the peeling paint on the bench absently. "I followed him upstairs, because I wanted to tell him what happened," Hermione nodded, "and I heard him telling Ron that we were through. Ron thought. . ." she looked at Hermione, "Ron thought that it was because I found out that you wrote that note and not Harry."  
  
Hermione blushed and looked away guiltily, "I didn't mean for this to happen, Ginny. I wanted to get back at the two of you, yes, but I wanted to bring you together, not tear you farther apart."  
  
Ginny sighed and shook her head, "I just don't understand why Harry kept it from me. I mean, if he loved me like he said. . ." Ginny faded out as a thought suddenly struck her. "He never said he loved me," she whispered, and felt the tears welling up anew, "Oh Hermione, everything really was a lie! I thought we were in love, truly I did, that's why we almost. . .Oh my goodness, I showed him my breasts!" she gasped, covering her mouth, and Hermione had to stop herself from smiling. This really wasn't all that funny.  
  
"But I think he does love you, Ginny, even if he didn't say it. That's the whole reason he didn't want you to find out about the letter, he didn't want you to be hurt," Hermione said consolingly.  
  
"No," Ginny shook her head sadly, "You didn't hear what he said when Ron left. . ."  
  
"What did he say?"  
  
"Well, they found out I was listening and Ron left with Neville, I think he wanted us to resolve this on our own, but we only ended up arguing more and. . .Hermione, he said such awful things to me," she looked at Hermione desolately. "He said that," she swallowed, "that I was like a bitch in heat," Hermione gasped, her eyes widening as she gave Ginny a stricken look, "and that I'd take it wherever I could get it, and that he would have been happy to help me out the other night if he had known all I wanted was a quick lay," Ginny's eyes stung from the tears she was holding back, "and so many other equally horrible things. I just couldn't take any more, Hermione, I just ran."  
  
Hermione was horrified, "I can't believe him. The nerve!" She stood up, truly outraged, "I'm going to go get him right now and he'll take every one of those things back if I have to beat him," she started walking toward the door, but Ginny grabbed the back of her robes to stop her.  
  
"No, Hermione, don't," she said pleadingly. Hermione hesitated.  
  
"Why not?" she asked.  
  
"Because this is between Harry and me," Ginny said sadly as Hermione sat back down, "and he can't just take back what he said," she looked down at her hands, away from Hermione's pitying gaze. "All I know is that I don't want to see him right now."  
  
"I understand," Hermione said, rubbing Ginny's back consolingly. "But you know that this can't go unresolved forever, don't you?"  
  
"Yeah, I know," Ginny said, "but right now I just need some time, Hermione. Time to. . .well, mope," she smiled sadly, but the attempt at humor was lost on her friend, who just shook her head. She felt her heart swell with gratitude. "Thanks Hermione," she said.  
  
"For what?" asked Hermione, looking confused.  
  
"For being here for me," Ginny smiled, and one more tear escaped down her cheek.  
  
Hermione hugged her, "Don't worry, Ginny, this will all get straightened out, you'll see. Everything will be okay."  
  
Ginny nodded as she pulled away, but felt a dreadful sense of foreboding in the very pit of her stomach. Somehow, she severely doubted that everything would be that easy.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Oh, the drama of it all!! And YES I KNOW; I made Ginny cry again. Well :-p if you don't like it. She had a bad day, I think she deserved a good cry. I promise that Harry won't keep acting like a sh!t for too long. He's hurting, people;)  
  
I had to make a teeny tiny little change to chapter 9. I had thought that Katie Bell graduated in Book 5, but I was wrong, so McGonagall now says: "Remember that you and Ms. Bell are the only people who have been on the team for more then a year. . ." This doesn't affect the plot, so you really don't have to read the chapter over again, I just wanted you to know so that you didn't get confused when I started mentioning Katie Bell in later chapters.  
  
Okay, peeps, I hate to do this to ya, truly I do, but I'm afraid it's one of those times. Now that summer school is FINALLY over (yay! All 4.0s! I ROCK), I am going on a well deserved vacation to visit family in Texas, so I will be unable to update for two weeks. I know, I know, don't be sad;-). I promise to add the new chapter as soon as I get back, so: NEXT POST WILL BE 8/20. I will be expecting an insane amount of reviews when I get back=D 


	11. Chapter11

Chapter 11  
  
Yay!! I'm back! Time to jump for joy! Oh, come on, you know you want to;) hehe- anyway thanks for waiting so patiently. . .or not so patiently. . .hell, thanks for waiting!=D  
  
Oh my clavicle, just look at all those reviews=D That's mighty. Thank you ever so much! *bear hugs* (=  
  
A lot of people had a problem with Harry last chapter. Yeah, I know he was an ass wasn't he? I thought that one line (I'm sure you know the one I'm talking about; and if you don't, then I guess you didn't have a problem with it) might have been pushing it a little, but I really wanted you guys to get pissed with Harry, and it worked for the most part, so it stays;-P I'm not a professional author, I have no desire to be one, and I don't fool myself: my writing isn't chopped liver, but it won't exactly be winning any awards. So mistakes are inevitable, especially because I don't want to bother with a beta. I'm doing this because I'm weird and for some strange reason find authoring fanfiction entertaining, not because I want to better my writing skills, or anything reasonable like that;-)  
  
And I know, I know, I missed my deadline! I'm sorry, don't hurt me!!- lol. School's just started, and I didn't realize how much I would have to do in the week after vacation, so I thought that I'd be able to get a chapter up before I left for school, but whenever I did sit down to write I'd feel so stressed out that all I'd do is stare blankly at the computer screen. And then I finally do get the chapter done and the internet at my school goes down for a WEEK (which pissed me off to no end, because I had to listen to everyone else complaining about it) st0opid worms! Okay, I'll stop with the excuses now(=  
  
Alrighty- updates might not be too steady from here on out; I have an 18 credit course load, plus I'll have to start practicing 3+ hours a day if I want to pass my jury in December, so fanfic probably won't be at the top of my priority list. However, I'm going to do my damnedest not to make you go more then 10 days without an update (I'm not making any promises, though). Please stick with it=) If you would like me to e-mail you every time I update, I'd be happy to, just tell me. I know how annoying it can be to have to keep checking. omg, I can't believe the semester's already started, I can already feel the headaches coming on. . .Agh, migraine! D-: *whimper*  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Harry sat in the first potions class of the year feeling surly and depressed. He glanced over at Hermione quickly. Neither she nor Ron had spoken to him since this morning. Harry stared at the directions for the potion on the board glumly. They were his friends, not Ginny's. They were supposed to be on his side. But they had made it clear who they believed earlier that day. He thought back to the incident moodily.  
  
Harry and Ron had been walking down to the Great Hall, Ron rambling on about how dismal his schedule was, and Harry pretended to listen, his mind still haunted by what had happened last night. He was starting to feel guilty about how harsh he had been on Ginny, though he had meant every word he had said at the time. Well almost every word. He admitted to himself that the parting shot might have been below the belt. And he didn't really think that she was loose, or that she had been faking her emotions with him. Okay, so he hadn't meant anything he had said, but he had felt so betrayed that at the time it had seemed like the truth to his tortured mind. He again thought of how her eyes had teared as she ran from the room. Damn. What the hell was he supposed to do about this?  
  
"Hey Hermione!" he heard Ron call out, and looked up to see Hermione approaching them at a brisk pace. He began to offer a half-hearted smile in greeting, but became immediately wary at the site of the angry, determined look on her face, and he knew. She had talked to Ginny.  
  
"Now Hermione," Harry said, holding out both hands in a gesture of supplication, "wait until you hear my side of the story before you go and-"  
  
But she didn't wait. Instead she promptly began to pummel him, and these were no girly slaps, but jabs that Dudley himself would have envied. Ron shouted "Whoa there!" and wrestled Hermione off Harry, but not before she had managed to give him a bloody nose and a bruised lip.  
  
"Why do you keep DOING that!" Harry winced in annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to ease the bleeding. At least his glasses were still intact.  
  
"Because you keep acting like such an enormous prat!" She yelled, and proceeded to throw a stream of curse words at him that had even Ron raising his eyebrows as he struggled to hold her back from attacking Harry again. Harry glared at her unemotionally as she finally ran out of insults, seemingly using up every cuss word she knew, which wasn't a very long list, and by this time an impressive amount of students had gathered to stare at the spectacle Hermione Granger was making of herself.  
  
She stopped suddenly as if realizing this and stiffened, at the same time slapping Ron's restraining arms away from her irritably. She stuck her nose in the air and glared at the fascinated students mutinously as she said, "What are you looking at? Start moving or I'm taking house points!"  
  
Though the majority of the students knew it was an empty threat, they quickly cleared, peering over their shoulders as they left. She turned back towards Harry, and he subconsciously put a hand on his wand, afraid that she would at any moment start throwing hexes at him. He was surprised, however, when she turned on Ron instead.  
  
"How can you just stand there after the way he's treated your sister?" She accused, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him huffily.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, looking confused.  
  
"Didn't he tell you what happened?" she said incredulously.  
  
"Well, I know that they broke up because he saw Ginny-"  
  
"I'm not talking about that," she said dismissively, waving her hand in front of her to shoo away that fact as if it were an annoying fly. "I'm talking about the horrid things he said! You should have seen Ginny crying last night. Ron, it was pitiful!"  
  
Harry felt yet another stab of guilt and ducked his head shamefaced. He had known that Ginny was upset when she left, but actually hearing that he had made her cry. . . Ron was suddenly paying a lot more attention, and his eyes narrowed on Harry, "What did you do?"  
  
Harry was about to explain when Hermione beat him to it, and shouted, "He called her a whore!"  
  
"You what!?"  
  
"Lower your voices!" Harry gritted out in a hushed exclamation, then glared at Hermione, "I didn't call her that."  
  
She glared right back. "As good as!" she said, and pressed her lips together in irritation. She seemed to be trying desperately to hold her tongue.  
  
Ron folded his arms across his chest and stared at Harry threateningly, "You know you'll be apologizing, I hope?"  
  
Harry sighed and avoided Ron's eyes. "I had already figured that out for myself, Ron. I was out of line and I know it."  
  
Ron was silent for a second, but then he nodded and said, "Okay." He still looked stern, but Harry knew that he had been at least slightly appeased.  
  
Hermione watched this all disbelievingly. "That's IT!" she said, looking at Ron in amazement, "That's all you're going to do?"  
  
"Well, what were you expecting?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"I don't know, maybe a little more anger? A little more brotherly concern and indignation over the tattered emotional state of your only sister?" She said incredulously, looking at Ron in disappointment.  
  
"Well, he said he's sorry, and I believe he is, so what more can I do? You've already beat him up," he smirked, and she looked as if she would defend herself, but he held up his hands as he continued, "If Ginny wants to come with to me to. . .talk," he looked pained, as if the very idea made him uncomfortable, "I'll be here for her. But I've decided that it's not our place to get involved in their relationship. We tried that once, and see all the good that's done," he said, looking at Hermione pointedly. She appeared highly affronted.  
  
"Are you blaming ME for what's happened?" she asked in disbelief.  
  
"Now, Hermione, you're misunderstanding-"  
  
"Oh, no. I think I understand perfectly," she fumed. She raised her hands in the air and looked up at the ceiling, as if praying for some patience, and then scowled at Ron before she stalked off moodily.  
  
"Come on, Hermione! Don't be like this," Ron called after her, but she refused to look around. Ron cursed in frustration and started to rush after her, but not before glaring at Harry accusingly. "Thanks a lot," he said sarcastically, and before Harry could respond, he was gone.  
  
So now Ginny was angry with him because he had acted like an asshole and hurt her feelings, Hermione was angry at him because he had been such a shit to Ginny, Ron was angry at him because he had put Hermione in a bad mood, and he was angry at himself because he had done such a royal job of screwing everything up. Why hadn't he just listened to Ginny when she had tried to explain last night? He might have if she hadn't started bombarding him with questions about that damned note. Or maybe he wouldn't have. He had just gotten so defensive and then. . .well it had all gone downhill from there. And the more he thought about things, the more convinced he became that Ginny hadn't been out to hurt him, that she had just been confused. He could understand that, couldn't he? She hadn't seen Dean in months and maybe some old feelings had gotten stirred up in her. . .but even that was too painful for him to bear. He wanted to be the only one doing any 'stirring up' of Ginny's feelings. And he knew that if she told him it had been a mistake, he would take her back in a second.  
  
"Why, Mr. Potter, what is that you happen to be brewing?"  
  
Harry looked up in dread. Sure enough, Snape was standing over him, looking down his long beak of a nose at the contents of Harry's cauldron. Harry dared a glance around the room and saw that every single cauldron had a light mist of gold hovering over it but his, which was emitting sporadic wisps of dull gray. Of course everyone else in the class had made the potion correctly, the large majority had received O's on their OWLs, or they wouldn't have been accepted into the class. Harry looked at the board and immediately knew what he had done wrong. He was supposed to have stirred for six minutes counter-clockwise, but had been so lost in thought that he had long ago stopped counting how long he had been stirring, and had been doing it in the wrong direction. He was pretty sure that he had missed one of the ingredients too. He sighed, waiting for the insults to roll.  
  
And Snape never disappointed. "Then again, what more should I expect from someone who received just an A on their OWL. A pass that I'm sure you didn't deserve, Potter. You're lucky that Professor McGonagall favors you, otherwise you wouldn't have even been admitted to this class, but don't think that her influence will be enough to keep you here. Any more abysmal showings like this, and not even Dumbledore will be able to sway me to keep you here."  
  
There were a few snickers from some Slytherins huddled in a group toward the back of the class, a clique that included Malfoy, of course. But most of the class, which held quite a few DA members, gave him pitying looks that were almost as bad. Naturally Snape would go and announce Harry's shortcomings to everyone. Harry ached to tell him that nothing would make him happier then leaving his ruddy potions, but Snape was already turning away disdainfully, and Harry comforted himself by imagining Grawp pulling every hair out of the greasy git's ugly little head. He turned back to his cauldron and caught Hermione glancing at him sympathetically from the corner of his eye. She turned away when he looked at her, but he still felt considerably better by the end of the period, despite the fact that he had been given extra homework. At least he knew that Hermione wouldn't stay upset with him forever.  
  
He left the room, but decided to hang back and see if he could make Hermione talk to him. He let his bag drop to the floor and leaned against the wall, waiting for Hermione to walk out. She exited with a group of Ravenclaws, talking animatedly with Terry Boot. Either she was ignoring him or she didn't see him, so he reached out and caught her arm as she passed. She stopped in mid speech, and looked at Harry as if surprised to see him.  
  
"Hermione, could I talk to you for a second?" he asked quietly, after nodding to Terry in greeting. Hermione seemed undecided, so he added a "please", and she sighed and shook her head yes. He pulled her to the side as the rest of the class streamed by.  
  
She continued to look at him frostily and his adam's apple bobbed as he cleared his throat. She wasn't going to make this easy on him. "Listen, Hermione, I just wanted you to know that I meant what I said this morning. I really am sorry for what happened with Ginny."  
  
"Have you told her that?" She asked.  
  
Harry avoided her gaze, "Not yet. I haven't seen her." She looked disapproving, and he hastily added, "But I'm going to as soon as I can. That is, if she'll talk to me at all."  
  
"You know she has every right to tell you to take your apology and shove it up your-"  
  
"Yeah, I know, I know," he interrupted hastily.  
  
"That's what I'd do," Hermione grumbled, but felt her anger start to fade at the miserable expression on his face. She sighed. "You really have some groveling to do."  
  
Harry nodded and swallowed, hesitating. "She didn't. . .she didn't tell you why she and Dean-" he stopped, unable to bring himself to complete the thought. He cleared his throat again and looked away, but was surprised when Hermione touched his arm sympathetically. He looked up, "Did she?"  
  
Hermione bit her lip, and appeared to be debating with herself. Finally she shook her head and said, "Harry, you need to be talking with Ginny about this, not me. Not only have I promised Ginny that I wouldn't discuss this with you, I've decided Ron's right. It's not our place to get involved," she put her hands on both his shoulders and shook gently as she looked up at him, "Just listen to her, okay? Trust her."  
  
Harry couldn't make himself speak, and he ran a hand through his hair as he closed his eyes and nodded. It finally hit Hermione that Ginny wasn't the only one hurting from this, that Harry was suffering too, and she hugged him, patting his back reassuringly.  
  
"Ugh, that's disgusting! Get a room, mudblood."  
  
Hermione pulled away and Harry could almost see her hackles going up. Malfoy had just left the potions classroom, and was sneering at them disdainfully. The hall had cleared except for the three of them, and Hermione crossed her arms as she curled her upper lip and said, "Grow up."  
  
"I should take off points from Gryffindor, you know. No snogging in public," Malfoy smirked, ignoring Hermione's comment.  
  
"You know perfectly well that we were doing no such thing, Malfoy," Hermione glared. "And you're not the only one here who's a prefect."  
  
"Oh, that's right. I've heard that red-headed beggar is your boyfriend now. A mudblood and a Weasley, what a perfect match."  
  
"Speaking of boyfriends, Malfoy, where are yours?" Harry shot back.  
  
Malfoy's flush looked unusually bright against his sallow skin. Whatever undoubtedly scathing reply he was about to come up with was cut off by Ron, who said from behind Malfoy, "Yes, I'd be careful what I said if I were you. Seems you're outnumbered."  
  
Malfoy sneered as Ron walked around him to take Hermione's hand. She smiled up at Ron in greeting, and Malfoy's voice was dripping with sarcasm, "Well, isn't that just touching."  
  
"Jealous, Malfoy?" Ron said casually, curling his arm around Hermione's waist protectively.  
  
"Why the hell would I be jealous of you, Weasley?" Malfoy sneered.  
  
"Maybe because no girl would touch you with a ten-foot pole. And Pansy doesn't count; I have my doubts about her being female."  
  
Malfoy's grin was evil. "If I wanted that kind of company, all I'd have to do is look up your sister. She can't be all that selective if she's shagged Potter, here. And I've heard that she. . .gets around quite a bit," Malfoy smirked lasciviously.  
  
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Harry was on him. The world around him became strangely faded as he pushed Malfoy back against the wall and pressed his forearm against the little shit's jugular, aware only of the urge to break Malfoy's neck. "You take it back Malfoy!" He said, pressing Malfoy harder into the wall for emphasis. "You take it back or so help me. . ." his voice became ominously quiet and Malfoy emitted a gargled whimper. "Who's been talking about her, huh, who?" Malfoy was now starting to turn a bit blue, but Harry barely noticed in his enraged state. All he could see was the red haze of anger that clouded his vision.  
  
Hermione's voice sounded far away to him as she said hesitantly, "Uh, Harry? He can't talk. . ." She glanced at Ron anxiously, "Harry let him go."  
  
"Not until he answers me. I want to know who's been spreading lies about Ginny," he growled, but eased up just enough so that Malfoy could breath, "I've walloped you once, Malfoy, and I'll do it again. Tell me!"  
  
There were a few moments of tense silence, during which Malfoy closed his eyes as he tried to catch his breath. Harry was getting ready to damn the consequences and beat Malfoy to within an inch of his life, when Malfoy opened his eyes and stared at Harry straight on. He looked an odd combination of resentful and triumphant as he gasped out, "You."  
  
Harry felt as if he had been punched in the gut, and his grip relaxed enough in his shock for Malfoy to break free of him and back away a safe distance. Harry felt as if a vise was being tied around his throat, and his voice was hoarse as he said, "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Did you really think no one would hear what the two of you were screaming, Potter?" Malfoy spat, grinning, "It's all over the school. Everyone knows what a little slut she is, screwing around with you behind Thomas' back." The blood drained from Harry's face as Malfoy turned to Ron, his laugh almost gleeful, "Shows how stupid your tub of a mother is, naming that gutter snipe Virginia. What a joke." Hermione gasped and Ron made a guttural noise deep in his throat that sounded like a growl as he lunged for Malfoy. But his hands grabbed only air as Malfoy sprinted away, his laughter ringing ominously through the Dungeon hallway.  
  
Harry stood rooted to the spot. His hands felt clammy, and he was aware of a strange tightening in his chest, an anxious pressure that seemed to be building at an alarming rate. He took a shaky breath, but it only seemed to make the feeling worse, sharper and more painful. He started to feel panicked and he breathed "I have to go find her," to Ron and Hermione, but he didn't wait for a response, leaving the pair to stare after him worriedly as he fled.  
  
He made his way toward the Great Hall, hoping she would be there. It was their lunch hour, so she should be. During the long trek through the halls and secret passageways, Malfoy's words kept ringing through his head. Was he telling the truth? Harry hoped not. But he knew in his gut that for once Malfoy had not been lying. He had known about the argument hadn't he? But this meant that a Gryffindor had spread the rumors, and this fact didn't sit well with him. And if the person had truly been listening in on his and Ginny's argument, they would have known that he and Ginny had never. . .well. . .done THAT, so what had Malfoy been talking about? Harry felt a shudder go through him at the prospect of what the whole school must be thinking about Ginny. Because of him.  
  
He spotted her almost immediately. Ginny was sitting, talking quietly to Neville, and if Harry hadn't been looking for it he wouldn't have seen it. There were clusters of students all around the Great Hall, and it appeared as if they were all laughing and talking good naturedly. But every so often someone would turn and point in Ginny's direction, then speak in hushed voices to their respective groups, who would either look disgusted or snicker behind their hands knowingly. What Harry didn't notice was that there were plenty of students throwing glances his way as well, but he had long ago grown accustomed to this, and had learned to block it out for the most part. Had he noticed he still wouldn't have cared, his indignation at the sight of so many people speaking sordidly of Ginny was so great.  
  
He made his way towards her, faintly aware of the hall becoming quieter as they realized that he was going to speak with Ginny. He knew that he had to get her away from the prying ears and eyes of the other students if he wanted to have any kind of coherent conversation with her. He stopped behind her and leaned down close. "We need to talk."  
  
Ginny shivered at the feel of his breath against her ear and then stiffened. She took a deep breath and had to reminded herself of all the insults he had thrown at her yesterday before she started to go all soft inside as she so often did whenever he was near her. She would not be a wimp, she told herself. She would not forget what he had done. "I don't feel like talking right now," she said, not deigning to turn toward him.  
  
"Ginny, please just come with me," he whispered, leaning in close and putting his hand on her shoulder.  
  
She flinched at his touch and pulled away from him, and he gritted a low sound of frustration. She turned toward him angrily, "What do you expect Harry? You can't just act like everything's normal, like I'd just follow you wherever you tell me to go. I'm through being your doormat, you only noticing me when its convenient for you. For too long your opinion has been too important to me. But you cleared up a lot of things for me last night, Harry, and now my eyes are wide open to just how flawed you are," Ginny finished, feeling very proud at the little speech she had just given. So she was a little irritated when Harry just rolled his eyes, completely disregarding what she had said.  
  
"Fine, we'll do this here in front of everyone, then," he pointedly skimmed the hall around them. Ginny looked up and was surprised to see a quite few heads turning away hurriedly when they noticed her looking their way. She bit her lip and quickly decided that it might in fact be better if they got this over with somewhere else. "Neville, if you'll excuse me, this won't take long at all," she said with meaning, standing and walking past Harry quickly, leaving him trail behind her.  
  
When they were out in the hall she stopped, but Harry grabbed her elbow to guide her forward, and Ginny realized that he was steering her outside onto the grounds. She shook her arm free of his grip and walked next to him in stony silence. When they were finally outside, and Harry was convinced that no one would overhear them, he stopped and Ginny crossed her arms, giving him a look that reminded him eerily of Hermione at her most strict, and as he cleared his throat he had an odd sense of deja-vu.  
  
"I'm waiting," Ginny said when Harry just stood there, seemingly at a loss for words. Now that he had her alone he didn't know what to say.  
  
Harry stared fixedly at the ground and rubbed a hand through his hair agitatedly. "I don't know where to start," he muttered.  
  
"You could start by looking me in the eye when you're talking to me," she said irritably, already growing impatient with him.  
  
Harry flushed but looked up. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry."  
  
"For what?" Ginny asked.  
  
Harry looked confused, "For what I said to you last night. For what I said about you."  
  
"And?" Ginny said, tapping her toe impatiently.  
  
Harry paused, "Oh, and for not telling you about the letter."  
  
"AND?"  
  
"And what?" Harry exclaimed, absolutely puzzled. Ginny just shook her head in disgust. She made as if to walk away from him, but he blocked her way, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Tell me what you want me to say!"  
  
"I shouldn't have to tell you, Harry, you should know!" She shouted back at him, knocking his hands off her again.  
  
Harry bit his tongue and tried to calm himself. "Look, Ginny, I don't want to fight with you," he said. He tried to put his hand on her arm but thought better of it in mid-gesture, and let it hang back by his side. "I should have been truthful about the note with you from the beginning, and I said some awful things last night," she made a snorting sound and rolled her eyes, "Some really awful things," he amended. "None of which I meant," he shuffled his feet and searched for the right words to say. "It's just that. . .Ginny, I'm so in love with you, and seeing you with him and realizing that you didn't feel the same way. . ." he breathed, "It just drove me crazy."  
  
Ginny was speechless. She felt short of breath, and there was a wonderful sort of warmth spreading through her, originating in her heart and stretching to her very fingtips. She turned her back on him to hide the smile she was unable to repress, and she allowed herself to lean into the hand he placed on her shoulder from behind, just a bit. He had said he loved her. "I understand if your feelings aren't that strong yet, I mean, everything's happening sort of fast. And I realize that you might still have feelings for Dean," he got a little choked up, and had to stop for a second. "Can you forgive me for everything, Ginny?"  
  
Any other girl might have made him beg, but this was Ginny. She often had trouble staying mad at people for long, due largely to her forgiving nature. Not only that, but this was Harry she should be forcing to his knees apologizing, and despite everything she truly loved him, would probably never stop loving him. He must have figured out what had happened last night, he wouldn't say he loved her if he thought she was a duplicitous person like that. He must trust her. She turned toward him and put her arms around his neck, nodding into his shoulder. Harry sighed in relief.  
  
"Good," he said, putting his arms around her, albeit a little reserved. "We have to talk about what happened with Dean, Ginny," she pulled away and opened her mouth to speak but he shook his head. "Let me just ask you one question," he set her away from him a bit and looked her in the eye tensely, "Do you want to be with him?"  
  
Ginny's brow furrowed, and her smile faded, "Harry, I don't think you quite understand-"  
  
"Because I'll forgive you if you tell me it was a mistake," he interrupted.  
  
Ginny wasn't sure she had heard him right. Had he just said that he would forgive her? That HE would forgive HER! But instead of making her angry, his words made her incredibly sad. "Do you not trust me at all?" she asked in disbelief.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry asked.  
  
"Harry, what I was trying to say to you when you blew up at me last night was that I was breaking up with Dean. I had just told him about us, when all of a sudden he was saying how he must not have been aggressive enough, and before I knew it he was trying to stick his tongue in my mouth," he started to pale a little and she added, "I didn't want him to kiss me, Harry, and I didn't kiss him back! He forced it!"  
  
Harry looked doubtful, and Ginny balked, "You don't believe me?" she asked incredulously.  
  
Harry shrugged and looked away from her, "It's just that, I've known Dean for years, and he's not that kind of guy-"  
  
"OH! But I'm THAT kind of girl!" she fumed.  
  
"No, but-" Harry wracked his brain for the right thing to say, "You don't have to make things up about Dean just to make me feel better."  
  
Ginny's temper burned as red as her hair, "I am NOT lying!"  
  
"Ginny, you don't have to do this! I said I would forgive you!"  
  
Ginny took a deep breath and shook her head slowly, "That's the point, Harry, there's nothing to forgive," she said, but quietly, and it sounded with more conviction because of it. She looked miserable, almost deflated, and Harry reached out toward her, not knowing what else to do. But she backed away, "Until you realize that, until you can really trust me, we have nothing to say to each other." The warmth that had spread through her just a few moments earlier was gone, leaving behind a chill that seeped into her bones.  
  
"Ginny, don't do this to us," Harry begged, taking a step toward her. But she held up her hand to stop him.  
  
"It's not me, Harry, it's you," she said, "Let me know when you figure that out." With that she walked away, and Harry watched her go, completely dumb- founded as to where he had gone wrong.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
It's done it's done it's done! Wow, writing that chapter was like pulling teeth! Please make me happy and review! =D Please please please please! I'm beggin' ya ;-) 


	12. Chapter12

Chapter 12  
  
Well, guys, looks like I was right- my schedule is just as crazy as I thought it would be. And yet I still managed to crank this chapter out; am I not a good little fanfic author? I sorta think it stinks, but I didn't want to go any longer without giving y'all anything, and I don't want to keep you waiting any longer, so here it is. Enjoy;D  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Lavender Brown sat up in her bed, folded in an awkward position as she took one last swipe at her toenail. There. Now the bubblegum pink of her toes matched her perfectly painted fingernails. She wiggled her toes happily and blew at them lightly as she thought of how they would match Parvati's now. Yay, like, how totally cool.  
  
Across the room Hermione was starting on her third piece of parchment, writing an essay that Lavender knew wasn't due for another week, because it was for one of the only class that they shared, History. The bed around her was littered with pages upon pages of notes and open books. Lavender rolled her eyes. What a complete bore that girl was. It was only their first day of classes and already she was going starkers over one little paper. Lavender huffed and tried very hard not to feel jealous of her roommate. Everyone thought she was so wonderful because she was so smart, and Lavender couldn't help but notice that some people might even consider her pretty now that she was older. Lavender assured herself that she was much more attractive then Hermione, but felt the jealousy rise up in her again when she thought of how Hermione had gotten a boyfriend before she had.  
  
Not that Lavender had a 'thing' for Ronald Weasley. Oh, no, she had never much liked red hair, though she had to admit that he wasn't a bad catch. It was just the principle of the thing. Lavender was prettier, therefore she was supposed to get first boyfriend. Not that she couldn't get a boyfriend if she didn't want one; in fact, she was fairly certain that Seamus Finnigan had had a crush on her for some time now. But Lavendar didn't have a thing for Seamus either. No, she was more into a dark-haired, green-eyed quidditch seeker with a scar on his forehead. Namely Harry Potter.  
  
She twirled her hair around one of her fingers lazily as she stared off into space. She had liked Harry ever since their third year. There was no reason for it really, it was just that he was so fricken famous, and who wouldn't want to date a famous person? She had often daydreamed about what it would be like to have her name mentioned alongside his, and this had led to the beginning of her jealousy of Hermione in her fourth year, when Hermione had gotten so much publicity from her supposed relationship with Harry. Lavender knew that they thought of each other more as siblings, but it had still driven her a little mad. And Harry had asked Parvati to the Yule ball that year, and Lavender had pretended to be happy for her. She had secretly rejoiced when he acted like a complete 'tard toward Parvati at the ball, because then she had felt as if she was back in the running; even she was above chasing after someone involved with her best friend. But his actions at the ball had definitely ended all chances of the Great Harry and Parvati Romance ever progressing.  
  
Then last year she had started going absolutely bonkers over him once he started the DA meetings. He had been so sexy when he was in charge like that, and he was really starting to grow into one handsome man. He had so many more experiences then the other boys, and Lavender was sure that, despite what Cho said, he would be a great kisser. But he had been completely oblivious to the moves she had been putting on him last year, he was so obsessed with Cho (quite pathetic, really). And then she had been frustrated beyond anything when she had seen him with Ginny yesterday, and it had been SO obvious that something was going on between the two of them.  
  
Now while she had been jealous of Hermione when it was thought that Hermione might have a relationship with Harry, Lavender was positively green with spiteful envy where Ginny was concerned. Because, while Hermione didn't present much of a threat, Ginny did. She was one of those girls who got along with everyone, popular and un-popular alike. And everyone adored her because she was so nice to everyone, and so sweet, and sporty, and so attractive in an impish and (Lavender thought) coquettish sort of way. Everyone thought she was so perfect. But Lavender smiled. Not anymore.  
  
She hadn't really MEANT to spread the rumors about Ginny, but she wasn't going to pretend she wasn't happy they were out. She had been feeling very sulky yesterday when she had glimpsed Ginny kissing Harry goodbye in the hallway. They had thought that no one had noticed, but she had. She noticed everything Harry did. . .But anyway, she had gone to be alone in her room for a little while, but Hermione had been there saying how she needed to ask Ginny something concerning Ron, and so Lavendar had left. She had been going to see Seamus for a morale booster (when boys were after you they were as eager to please as young pups), passing Ron and Neville on the way up. And Harry and Ginny had forgotten to close the door.  
  
She had heard everything, every sordid little detail. Every insult Harry had hurled at Ginny had been like honey to her gossip-hungry little mind. She had even been standing right there in the hall when Ginny ran from the room, but the brat had been too teary-eyed to even notice her. Lavender had crept down the stairs a few moments later, just in time to see Ginny ducking out the portrait in the common room, Hermione's arm curled around her consolingly.  
  
Lavender had immediately gone to find Parvati and spilled everything she had heard to her friend. Lavender wasn't stupid, she had known that Parvati would go blabbing off to everyone, especially her sister. And, as gossip usually does, the rumors had gotten more exaggerated and sordid with every person it passed through. So, not twenty-four hours later, the whole school knew what kind of girl Ginny was.  
  
Just then, the girl currently skulking around in Lavender's thoughts entered the room, making a bee-line toward Hermione. Lavender sank deeper back into her bed, doing her best to seem invisible. She wanted to hear this.  
  
"Hermione, if I ask you something, could you please answer me truthfully?" Ginny got out hurriedly as Hermione looked up. "I promise I won't get mad."  
  
"What now?" Hermione looked worried.  
  
"Well, it's just that. . ." Ginny bit her lip. "I really don't know what to think. . .I overheard some Hufflepuffs talking about me and Harry in the hallway, and, I mean, I don't even KNOW them. . .and they knew about my argument with Harry and everything, and. . .my goodness, Hermione, people have been looking at me strangely all day, and Luna came up to me today and said that she believed me to be the most virtuous person that she has ever met, no matter what anyone says, and I don't know what that's supposed to mean exactly. . .But I'm pretty sure that somehow everyone knows about what happened with Harry and me and you were the only one I told. . .and I was wondering if maybe, you know, by accident you might have said something to someone somehow, and well, I don't know. . ."  
  
Hermione just stared at Ginny for a second, but before she could respond Ginny was speaking again, shaking her head. "You know what, Hermione, I'm being stupid. Of course you didn't say anything to anyone, I know that, but I don't know how else. . ." she worried her lip some more, wringing her hands worriedly. "How can everyone know, Hermione?" she whispered.  
  
Hermione hesitated, "Did you not talk to Harry today?"  
  
"Oh, no, what did he do now?" Ginny groaned leaning against Hermione's bedpost and crossing her arms.  
  
"Well," Hermione put down her pen, "Someone overheard your, uh, argument last night and you know how rumors spread. . ." Hermione looked as if she might say more but didn't.  
  
"How long has Harry known about this? How did he find out?" Ginny got out stiffly, her fists clenching so tightly that her knuckles turned white.  
  
"There was a confrontation Malfoy," Hermione said, playing with the edge of her parchment, unable to look Ginny in the eye.  
  
"When? Was it before lunch?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Yeah." Ginny digested this and Hermione still wouldn't look at her.  
  
"What aren't you telling me Hermione?" Ginny demanded, and Hermione finally looked up.  
  
"It's something that Malfoy said. . .I think that everyone has the impression that you and Harry. . .you know," Hermione raised her eyebrows. Ginny groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, as if she was getting a headache.  
  
"I can't believe Harry didn't warn you," Hermione shook her head.  
  
"Don't even get me started with him," Ginny let out a frustrated sigh.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Hermione, he's acting like a BOY," Ginny whined, pressing her hands to her eyes in frustration.  
  
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.  
  
"I mean he's acting stupid," Ginny sighed, gingerly clearing off a spot on Hermione's bed so that she could sit down. "He just doesn't GET it. He doesn't get anything. And I don't think that I should have to explain it to him. Am I wrong?"  
  
"What exactly doesn't he get?"  
  
"I told him that Dean kissed me without my permission, and he doesn't believe me. He thinks I'm just saying it to protect his 'delicate feelings'. He said he would forgive me."  
  
"He didn't!" Hermione looked appalled.  
  
"Yeah he did. Real magnanimous of him don't you think? Why are you looking at me like that?"  
  
"That was a big word." The corner of Hermione's mouth kicked up a bit.  
  
"Tell me you are not serious."  
  
"Oh, no, it's just hard to believe that you and your brother are related sometimes," Hermione smiled teasingly, and Ginny snorted.  
  
"Anyway," Ginny said, "I think he should trust me. I don't think I should have to explain everything to him as if he were a child. I told him that when he understands where he went wrong, then I'll talk to him," Ginny looked suddenly unsure of herself.  
  
"You're afraid he won't come to his senses, aren't you?" Hermione patted Ginny's arm consolingly when Ginny nodded. Hermione sighed, "You know everything will work out, right? The two of you are meant to be with each other, you're perfect together."  
  
"I thought so too, but now. . ." Ginny faded out.  
  
"He'll come around," Hermione reassured her. "Despite how he's acting, he's really not stupid-"  
  
"Agh!"  
  
Hermione stopped and looked across the room, and Lavender cursed again, standing up. She had forgotten to screw the cap back on the nail polish, and it was now soaking into her comforter and decorating the sleeve of her robes. She looked at Ginny and Hermione across the room and put on a fake smile. "It spilt," she said, holding up the now empty nail polish bottle. Way to point out the obvious.  
  
Hermione cleared her throat and smiled back at Lavender stiffly. She never really had been able to stomach the vacant little twit. "I'd forgotten you were over there, Lavender."  
  
Lavender made an unresponsive hmm-ing noise, and quickly pulled out her wand and cleaned up the pink mess. "Well, I'm going down to dinner now. I'll leave the two of you to talk about. . .whatever," she said knowingly, and left Hermione and Ginny staring after her before they could say anything.  
  
"This isn't good, is it?" Ginny sighed, and Hermione shook her head.  
  
"No, no it's not," she muttered. "Darn Harry, this is all his fault. Why does he have to go and act like such an idiot?"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Harry watched Hermione and Ginny enter the Great Hall tensely. Ron stopped talking when he saw the direction of Harry's gaze and shifted in his seat uncomfortably, but Harry didn't pay much attention to this. He had been in a bad mood ever since his talk with Ginny at lunch that day, and he still didn't know exactly what she wanted to hear. He was trying to be the good guy by forgiving her, damn it, what more did she want from him?  
  
Dinner was awkward, to say the least. Hermione and Ron had picked up on the tense vibes between the two, and conversation had been sparse. Whenever anyone talked to Harry he would grunt out one word answers, and Ginny had chosen to sit as far away from him as possible while still sitting in the same group. They avoided eye contact at all costs, and Ginny was the first to leave the table, nearly running from the Hall. Harry watched her go, the glass he was holding nearly breaking in his hand, he was gripping it so tightly.  
  
Dean got up to leave just seconds after Ginny, and Harry gave in to the urge to follow. He had to settle this once and for all. So he followed Dean all the way back up to the Gryffindor common room, entering the common room quietly and hoping to find Dean alone so he could confront him. He was unprepared for what he found instead.  
  
"Ginny, wait." Harry stepped back against the wall and into shadows instinctively at the sound of voices. He had a clear view of Dean, who had put a hand on Ginny's arm to stop her from heading into the girls' dorms. Other then the three of them, the room was completely empty.  
  
"I told you not to touch me again," Ginny said quietly, but she turned around. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with Dean right now. She just wanted to go upstairs and be alone with her thoughts, to just escape from everyone for a little while. It looked like that wouldn't be happening.  
  
Dean quickly retracted his arm and shuffled his feet uncomfortably. Everything was quiet for a second, and then Dean got out in a muttered rush, "Iamsorryginny."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said I'm sorry," he ducked his head ashamedly. "For what I did yesterday. I don't know what came over me. I'm not like that, I just. . .You know I'm not like that right?"  
  
Ginny rubbed her eyes exhaustedly. She was sick of it. Sick of all of it: the drama, the misunderstandings, the gossip. She just needed to get away. "Yeah, Dean, I know," she sighed, and almost groaned at his pathetically hopeful expression. "Look, Dean, I appreciate you coming to apologize to me, and I forgive you, but there's never going to be anything between us. Okay?"  
  
Dean looked disappointed. "You're sure Harry is who you want to be with?"  
  
Ginny wasn't sure exactly what to say. "I was," she said, but her voice cracked, and Dean looked at her concernedly.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
She breathed and tried to get her emotions in check. She had to stop acting so emotional, but she could already feel her eyes starting to water. Damn her easy tears; she would not cry over him again. "He doesn't trust me enough to believe me when I told him I didn't kiss you. He seems to believe that you have more character then to force something like that."  
  
Dean looked guilt-stricken. "Oh, Gin, I had no idea. . .I'll make it up to you. I'll go to Harry and tell him exactly-"  
  
"No!" Ginny almost shouted, and Dean's eyes revealed his confusion. "I don't want you to do that."  
  
"But wouldn't that clear everything up-"  
  
"You wouldn't understand if I tried to explain my reasoning to you, Dean," she said, and felt a headache steadily creeping up on her. "Let's just say that I want to know that he trusts me, okay? I don't want him to apologize to me because he was wrong, I want him to be sorry that he didn't trust me. Do you understand?"  
  
"Not really," Dean admitted. "You're sure you don't want me to explain what happened to him?"  
  
"I already did that, and if your word means more to him then mine, then maybe Harry and I really aren't supposed to be together," Ginny said.  
  
"All right, but if you change your mind-"  
  
"I won't," Ginny said with quiet certainty, "but thank you." She touched his arm and smiled at him sadly, then turned and walked up the stairs. Dean watched her go, and then made his way up to the boys' dorms.  
  
Harry left the shadows and walked over to the couches in a slightly dazed state. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Just ten minutes ago he had still been feeling betrayed and hopeless, but now everything had changed.  
  
Ginny had been telling the truth.  
  
And he was an asshole.  
  
Harry put his head in his hands and groaned, thinking to what he had just heard Ginny say. She wanted him to trust her. So THAT was what she had been trying to get at earlier that day. And she was absolutely right, he should have trusted her, should have been able to take her at her word. But he wasn't used to trusting people, couldn't she understand that? Experience had taught him that the only person you could truly depend on was yourself- even your best friends weren't completely reliable.  
  
But he loved her.  
  
And wasn't that part of what loving someone was about? Trusting her as if she were not separate from you, until her word was as good as your own, until you couldn't tell where you started and she began? Harry's thoughts jumbled in his head, coming at him too fast, and he tried to straighten them out. Before, when he had thought he loved her, he had said it without ever really knowing what 'love' was. But he knew now; he loved her because she had become a part of him.  
  
Could he convince her that he trusted her though? When she found out that he had overheard her conversation with Dean she might find it hard to believe in his trust. And he WOULD tell her what he had overheard. There was no more room for lies between them; enough was enough.  
  
He jumped up quickly when he heard someone and looked over to find Lavender entering the common room alone. He had thought it might be Hermione or Ron, neither of whom he wanted to speak to right now, and he relaxed when he saw who it was. "Oh, it's you."  
  
"Gee, don't sound so excited, Harry," Lavender pouted dramatically and gazed at him from beneath her lashes, a flirtatious look that she had practiced many a time in front of the mirror.  
  
"Sorry, didn't mean to offend you, just thought you were someone else," Harry said distractedly, and glanced toward the stairs to the girls' dormitories, wondering if he should try to see Ginny now. He could have Lavender go get her for him. . .he had a feeling she wouldn't come down. He felt something touch his chest and glanced down in surprised to find that it was Lavender's hand.  
  
"I heard about what happened with Ginny, and I think it's just awful. If there's anything I could ever do to. . .help you out, let me know," her lips curled as she patted his chest. She fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously.  
  
Harry looked at her concernedly. "Are you feeling okay, Lavender? Its there something in your eye?"  
  
Lavender frowned and withdrew her hand. "No I'm fine," she said. Jeesh, what a thick head this boy had. "I'll see ya later, Harry," she smiled, and walked away, swinging her hips in what she thought to be a sultry motion. She went to toss an enticing look over her shoulder, but instead gave a huff of irritation when she saw that he wasn't even watching, that he was already walking up the stairs to his own room with his head bowed as if deep in thought. She marched the rest of the way from the commons without looking back.  
  
Harry rubbed his chin as he thought. What was he going to do about Ginny? There had to be something; he would fix this. He didn't know how, but he would. He would think on it tonight, and then find her tomorrow and put everything the way it should be. No way was he going to screw this up again.  
  
But his nightmares that night had different plans for him.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
dun dun DUN!! Uh-oh. . .what's haaaaappening??? I know and you don't, muahahaha!! I'm sorry, not incredibly long, only. . .3250 words, but I've been SUPER busy, and I'm amazed that I even got that out. Okay, I'm gonna go now. . .Tehehe, later dudes ;-D  
  
And remember, the more reviews I get, the faster I write! ;-D (Not really, but you know what I mean. . .oh, just review, damn it;) 


End file.
